Ausn Catholic Bishops Conf & Anor, Ex parte - Re Sundberg

The applicant, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, sought an order of prohibition against the respondent, Sundberg, a Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The dispute concerned the Commission's jurisdiction to hear and determine an application by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) for a declaration that certain provisions of the Bishops Conference's constitution were invalid. The Bishops Conference contended that the Commission lacked the power to make such a declaration, arguing that the matter fell outside the scope of industrial relations.

The primary legal issue before Gummow J was whether the Australian Industrial Relations Commission had the constitutional and statutory power to entertain an application seeking a declaration of invalidity concerning the internal rules of a religious organisation, where those rules were not directly related to the terms and conditions of employment. Specifically, the court had to consider the ambit of the Commission's jurisdiction under the *Industrial Relations Act 1988* (Cth) and its relationship with the constitutional freedom of religion.

Gummow J reasoned that the Commission's jurisdiction is confined to matters arising out of the relationship of employer and employee, or matters connected with industrial disputes. The application by the ACTU sought to challenge the validity of the Bishops Conference's internal governance rules, which were not shown to have any direct bearing on industrial matters. The judge found that the power to declare the invalidity of such rules, absent a connection to an industrial dispute or award, did not fall within the Commission's statutory mandate. Furthermore, to exercise such a power would risk infringing upon the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion by entangling the court in the internal affairs of a religious body.

The application for prohibition was granted.