Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union v ALS Industrial Australia Pty Ltd

In the matter of Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union v ALS Industrial Australia Pty Ltd, the applicants sought judicial review of decisions made by the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in the context of an enterprise agreement dispute. The applicants challenged the interpretation of certain clauses in the agreement, particularly concerning travel payments and the designation of an employee's "Company base." The Full Bench had granted permission to appeal, leading to this judicial review application. The central legal issues revolved around whether the FWC had jurisdiction to hear the appeal, whether the constitutional writs could be applied to a statutory body engaged in private arbitration, and the scope of judicial review in cases of alleged jurisdictional error or error of law on the face of the record.

The court examined the nature of the FWC proceedings, determining that the arbitration by the FWC was a private arbitration based on the consent of the parties, and not on the coercive authority of the state. This principle was not disputed by the applicants. The court further analyzed whether the FWC was exercising powers under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and/or under the enterprise agreement, concluding that the extent of statutory powers exercised depended on the specific facts of the case. It was established that arbitral awards could generally be set aside for error of law on the face of the record, with exceptions where the parties had agreed to submit a question of law to the arbitral tribunal.

The court addressed whether the Full Bench of the FWC was exercising powers under the Fair Work Act and/or the enterprise agreement and whether the constitutional writs would apply to a statutory body engaged in private arbitration. It concluded that writs would issue to Commonwealth officers in the exercise of their statutory powers and that the Full Bench was exercising powers under the Fair Work Act and/or the enterprise agreement. The court found that the Full Bench had the necessary jurisdiction to hear the appeal and that the constitutional writs could apply to a statutory body engaged in private arbitration. Finally, the court determined that there was no jurisdictional error or error of law on the face of the record sufficient to warrant judicial review.

The final orders of the court were to dismiss the application, with any application for costs to be filed within 14 days, accompanied by submissions not exceeding two pages, and any responses to be filed and served within 14 days thereafter, also with submissions not exceeding two pages.