Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia v Queensland Rail

The Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (the plaintiff) brought proceedings against Queensland Rail (the first defendant) in the High Court of Australia. The dispute concerned whether Queensland Rail, as constituted under the *Queensland Rail Transit Authority Act 2013* (Qld), was a "trading corporation" for the purposes of section 51(xx) of the Commonwealth Constitution, and consequently, whether Commonwealth legislation, specifically the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth), applied to it to the exclusion of certain Queensland legislation.

The legal issues before the Full Court were whether Queensland Rail was a corporation within the meaning of section 51(xx) of the Constitution, and if so, whether it was a trading corporation. Further, the court was asked to determine if the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) applied to Queensland Rail and its employees, superseding the *Queensland Rail Transit Authority Act 2013* (Qld) and the *Industrial Relations Act 1999* (Qld) by operation of section 109 of the Constitution.

The Court determined that it was unnecessary to decide whether Queensland Rail was a "corporation" in the constitutional sense. Instead, the Court focused on whether it was a "trading corporation". Applying an "activities" test, the Court found that Queensland Rail's functions, which included the provision of labour hire services to be carried out as a commercial enterprise, satisfied the criteria for being a trading corporation. Consequently, the Court held that the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) applied to Queensland Rail as a "national system employer", and that specific provisions of the Queensland Acts were inconsistent with the Commonwealth Act and therefore invalid in their application to Queensland Rail and its employees.

The Court ordered that it was unnecessary to answer the question of whether Queensland Rail was a corporation, but answered in the affirmative that it was a trading corporation. The Court also declared that certain sections of the Queensland legislation were inconsistent with the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) and invalid to that extent. Questions regarding relief were to be determined by a single Justice, and Queensland Rail was ordered to pay the costs of the special case.