Commissioner of the Australian Building and Construction Commission v Hall and Ors (No.3); (“The 3 Site Canberra Case – Penalties (No.3)”)

The Commissioner of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (the Applicant) sought declarations and penalties against various respondents, including officials and the CFMMEU, for multiple contraventions of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) (the FW Act). These contraventions arose from conduct on three different building sites over a seven-month period. The Applicant sought the imposition of maximum penalties, emphasising the need for both specific and general deterrence. The proceedings were before Judge WJ Neville of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine the extent of the CFMMEU's liability for contraventions of section 503(1) of the FW Act by individual respondents, particularly in light of previous judgments and concessions made by the Applicant. Specifically, the court needed to clarify whether the CFMMEU was liable for three contraventions of section 503(1) that were listed as "disputed contraventions" in the "Roadmap of Contraventions." The Applicant contended that the previous judgments established the CFMMEU's liability for all section 503(1) contraventions by individual respondents, and that the supplementary judgment did not alter this position.

Judge Neville considered the Applicant's submissions regarding the interpretation of the liability judgments and the impact of concessions made concerning section 793 of the FW Act. The Applicant argued that its concessions, which related to contraventions of sections 497, 499, and 500 of the FW Act, did not extend to section 503(1) contraventions. The court noted that the Applicant had expressly continued to press for CFMMEU liability for section 503(1) contraventions based solely on section 793, as this section could still be relied upon to establish union liability for contraventions of section 503(1) by a union official. The court found that the previous judgments, read together, did establish the CFMMEU's liability for the disputed section 503(1) contraventions.

The court made declarations in respect of the contraventions found and ordered pecuniary penalties to be paid to the Commonwealth of Australia.