Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union-Construction and General Division, Victoria-Tasmania Divisional Branch

[2022] FWC 3281

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.512 - Application for a right of entry permit

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union-Construction and General Division, Victoria-Tasmania Divisional Branch

(RE2019/374)

DEPUTY PRESIDENT GOSTENCNIK

MELBOURNE, 13 DECEMBER 2022

Application for extension of right of entry permit of Mark Alan Travers

On 24 August 2022 the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) applied under s.512 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) for an entry permit to be issued to Mark Alan Travers, an Organiser employed by the CFMMEU. On 14 September 2022 the CFMMEU also applied under s.516 of the Act for Mr Travers’s current entry permit to be extended, pending the determination of the s.512 application.

Mr Travers’s current entry permit was due to expire on 24 September 2022. I ordered that the entry permit period be extended to 15 December 2022.[1]

Presently, the s.512 application is still being considered and a further extension period for the entry permit is necessary in the circumstances where a decision is unlikely to be handed down prior to the expiry date of 15 December 2022.

I am satisfied that the requirements set out in ss.516(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the Act have been met and the application for the issue of a new right of entry permit will be dealt with in a prompt manner.

Accordingly, I grant an extension to the expiry date of the right of entry permit of Mr Travers (RE2019/374) until 28 February 2023.

An order giving effect to this decision is separately issued in PR748875.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

[1] PR746117

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU), Construction and General Division, Victoria-Tasmania Divisional Branch applied to the Fair Work Commission for an extension of a right of entry permit held by Mark Alan Travers, an Organiser employed by the CFMMEU. The permit was due to expire on 24 September 2022, but the Commission had already extended it to 15 December 2022. The CFMMEU now sought a further extension of the permit to 28 February 2023. The Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission, Gostencnik, was tasked with deciding whether the extension was justified.

The legal issues before the Deputy President were whether the application for the extension met the criteria set out in section 516(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act), and whether the extension was necessary in the circumstances. Section 516(2) of the Act requires the Deputy President to consider whether it is likely that the decision on the application for a new permit will be handed down before the expiry of the current permit, and whether the extension will not cause unreasonable detriment to the employer or any other person. The Deputy President found that the application met the requirements of section 516(2) of the Act, as it was unlikely that the decision on the application for a new permit would be handed down before the expiry date of 15 December 2022, and that the extension would not cause unreasonable detriment to any party.

The Deputy President granted the extension to the expiry date of the right of entry permit of Mr Travers until 28 February 2023, as the requirements set out in section 516(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the Act had been met, and the application for the issue of a new right of entry permit would be dealt with in a prompt manner. The Deputy President noted that the s.512 application was still being considered and a further extension period for the entry permit was necessary in the circumstances where a decision was unlikely to be handed down prior to the expiry date of 15 December 2022. An order giving effect to this decision was separately issued in PR748875.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

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