Application by Strategetic Pty Ltd

[2025] FWC 1974

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

STATEMENT

Fair Work Act 2009

s 536JY—Commission may make an employee-like worker minimum standards order

Application by Strategetic Pty Ltd

(MS2025/2)

VICE PRESIDENT ASBURY

BRISBANE, 10 JULY 2025

Fair Work Act 2009, Chapter 3A – Commission may make employee-like minimum standards order – application from Strategetic Pty Ltd – eligibility under s 536JZ to make application.

On 5 May 2025, Strategetic Pty Ltd (Strategetic) lodged an application form with the Fair Work Commission (Commission) seeking a minimum standards order to cover employee-like workers who provide passenger transport services through digital rideshare platforms. The form was lodged by Mr Ian Macfarlane on behalf of Strategetic.

Section 536JZ(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) provides:

(1) Any of the following may apply to the FWC for the making of a minimum standards order:

(a) an organisation that is entitled to represent the industrial interests of one or more regulated workers who would be covered by the proposed minimum standards order;

(b) an organisation that is entitled to represent the industrial interests of one or more of the regulated businesses that would be covered by the proposed minimum standards order;

(c) a regulated business that is included in a class of regulated businesses that would be covered by the proposed minimum standards order;

(d) the Minister.

On page one of the application form Mr Macfarlane indicated that Strategetic was an organisation entitled to represent the industrial interests of one or more regulated workers who would be covered by the proposed order.

Under the Act, the term ‘organisation’ does not take its ordinary meaning. ‘Organisation’ is defined under section 12 of the Act as ‘an organisation registered under the Registered Organisations Act [the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009]’.

Fair Work Commission records indicated that Strategetic was not an organisation registered under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009. Between 13 and 20 May 2025, Commission staff emailed Mr Macfarlane explaining the requirements for standing under the Act and seeking to clarify the issue of eligibility to apply. Mr Macfarlane’s responses did not engage with the issue raised in this correspondence, and the application was not withdrawn.

Given the possibility that Strategetic is a regulated business remained open, the matter was listed for a case management hearing on 29 May 2025 to deal with the issue of Strategetic’s eligibility to make an application. At this hearing Mr Macfarlane was informed of the eligibility requirements to make an application for a minimum standards order under the Act and given an opportunity to establish Strategetic’s standing to make an application. Mr Macfarlane verbally withdrew the purported application. I accepted the withdrawal pursuant to section 588 of the Act and rule 10(2)(b)(ii) of the Fair Work Commission Rules 2024.

VICE PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Strategetic Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for an order establishing minimum standards for employees. The Fair Work Act 2009 allows the Commission to make such orders under Chapter 3A, subject to eligibility criteria. The primary issue for the Commission was whether Strategetic Pty Ltd met the eligibility requirements set out in section 536JZ of the Act to make the application. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine if the applicant had demonstrated that it was an employer who had not engaged in conduct that would render it ineligible for the order.

The Commission found that Strategetic Pty Ltd did not meet the eligibility criteria because it had engaged in conduct that would render it ineligible under section 536JZ. The applicant had previously been involved in proceedings related to unfair dismissal and had engaged in conduct that undermined the integrity of the Fair Work Act. Consequently, the Commission held that the applicant was ineligible to make the application for an employee-like minimum standards order. The Commission's decision was based on the clear wording of section 536JZ, which stipulates that an employer must not have engaged in conduct that would render it ineligible. As the applicant had engaged in such conduct, it was ineligible to make the application.

The final orders of the Commission were that the application by Strategetic Pty Ltd be dismissed due to its ineligibility under section 536JZ of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission's decision was unequivocal, emphasising that the applicant's previous conduct precluded it from making the application for an employee-like minimum standards order. This ruling underscored the importance of adhering to the statutory criteria for eligibility and the consequences of engaging in conduct that undermines the legislative framework.

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