Australian Agricultural Co v Federated Engine-Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australasia

The Australian Agricultural Company and other employers sought an injunction to prevent the Federated Engine-Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australasia from proceeding with a plaint in the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The employers argued that certain agreements entered into between them and the Association, dated in late 1910 and early 1911, violated the terms of these agreements and therefore barred the Association from pursuing the arbitration. The case was heard in the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the agreements constituted a valid settlement of the industrial dispute, thereby precluding further proceedings in the Arbitration Court, and whether an agreement purporting to prevent parties from resorting to the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was void as contrary to public policy. The Court was also required to consider whether it was bound by its previous decision in *J. C. Williamson Ltd. v. Musicians' Union of Australia* or if that decision should be overruled.

A majority of the High Court held that an agreement intended to operate solely as an industrial agreement under the *Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904-1911* or as an agreement certified under section 24 of that Act, which fails to meet those requirements, is not operative at all. Consequently, the Court would not grant an injunction to restrain proceedings in the Arbitration Court. Furthermore, the majority found that any agreement seeking to prevent parties from initiating proceedings in the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration is contrary to public policy and therefore void. The Court also determined that *J. C. Williamson Ltd. v. Musicians' Union of Australia* was wrongly decided and should be overruled.

The motion for an injunction was dismissed.