DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Carers Victoria Incorporated
(AG2018/7306)

CARERS VICTORIA AGREEMENT 2018

Social, community, home care and disability services
COMMISSIONER BISSETT	MELBOURNE, 1 APRIL 2019

Application for approval of the Carers Victoria Agreement 2018.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Carers Victoria Agreement 2018 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Carers Victoria Incorporated. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The Agreement lodged contained an error at clauses 33.1, 34.1, 35.1 and 36.2. On 22 March 2019, the Applicant filed an amended version of the Agreement correcting this error. I am satisfied that the correction should be made and that it is appropriate to do so pursuant to s.586 of the Act.

[4] The Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union (ASU) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 8 April 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2021.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Carers Victoria Incorporated applied for approval of the Carers Victoria Agreement 2018, which was intended to be a safety net agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was made to the Fair Work Commission, which is the tribunal responsible for approving safety net agreements. The primary dispute was whether the application met the statutory criteria for approval.

The legal issues that the Commission was required to decide involved whether the agreement satisfied the formal requirements for a safety net agreement and whether it provided for a safety net that was not less favourable than the relevant national minimum terms and conditions. The Commission needed to determine if the agreement was genuinely an agreement between the parties, if it was not made under duress, and if it provided adequate protections for the employees covered by it.

The Commission found that the application met all the necessary criteria. It concluded that the agreement was genuinely an agreement between the parties and that it did not contain any provisions that were made under duress. The Commission also found that the agreement provided for a safety net that was not less favourable than the relevant national minimum terms and conditions. Therefore, the Commission approved the application and the Carers Victoria Agreement 2018.

The final orders of the Commission were that the application for approval of the Carers Victoria Agreement 2018 be approved and that the agreement be registered as a safety net agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The agreement was to take effect from the date of the Commission's decision and would remain in force until it was varied or terminated in accordance with the Act.

Carers Victoria Incorporated

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established