Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union v Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) Ltd

The Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union, acting on behalf of its members, brought a claim against the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) Ltd, concerning a dispute under section 739 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute arose after a previous bargaining dispute had been settled through section 240 of the same Act. The crux of the matter was whether the provisions of the RACV Roadside Assistance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014-2017 allowed for the arbitration of the dispute.

The court was required to determine if the dispute fell within the scope of section 739 of the Act, and if so, whether the enterprise agreement contained any provisions that would enable arbitration of the dispute. Specifically, the court had to interpret the relevant clauses in the enterprise agreement to ascertain if they permitted arbitration of the section 739 dispute.

The Fair Work Commission found that the dispute indeed fell within the scope of section 739. The court then examined the RACV Roadside Assistance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014-2017 and identified that the agreement did not explicitly permit arbitration of section 739 disputes. Consequently, the court ruled that the dispute could not be arbitrated under the terms of the agreement. The court's decision clarified the legal framework for such disputes and emphasised the importance of explicit provisions in enterprise agreements for arbitration of section 739 disputes.

The court's final orders clarified that the dispute was a section 739 dispute and that the RACV Roadside Assistance Centre Enterprise Agreement 2014-2017 did not permit arbitration of such disputes. The decision set a precedent for future cases involving similar agreements and disputes.