Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd v United Voice

Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the correct test for determining whether employees were "covered by" an industrial agreement, specifically in the context of an application to set aside an agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Broadspectrum argued that the Commission, and subsequently the Full Court, had erred in its application of the coverage test, particularly in light of the High Court's decision in *ALDI Foods Pty Ltd v United Voice* (2017) 351 ALR 1.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the Full Court of the Federal Court had correctly determined that the Commission's application of the "principal purpose test" was consistent with the broader coverage test articulated by the High Court in *ALDI*. Broadspectrum contended that the Commission had applied the narrower, pre-*ALDI* Federal Court test for coverage, and that the Full Court's finding that this was consistent with the *ALDI* decision was erroneous. This raised the question of whether the Full Court had misunderstood or misapplied the High Court's pronouncement on the correct approach to determining coverage.

Broadspectrum's argument was that the Commission, at the time of its decision, was bound to apply the narrower Federal Court test for coverage. It was submitted that the Full Court erred by finding that the Commission's reasoning, which involved reference to the "principal purpose test" and considerations of future work, was not inconsistent with the broader test established in *ALDI*. Broadspectrum argued that the *ALDI* decision introduced an essential examination of the future, which was distinct from and broader than the principal purpose test, and that the Full Court's conclusion that the two were consistent effectively undermined the *ALDI* pronouncement. The High Court considered whether the issue was sufficiently clear and important to warrant granting special leave to appeal, noting the complexity of parsing the lower courts' reasoning.