Construction Industry Training Board v Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (ACN 093 114 553)

The Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, comprising Kourakis CJ, Stanley and Nicholson JJ, considered a dispute between the Construction Industry Training Board and Transfield Services (Australia) Pty Ltd. The core of the dispute concerned whether certain land held by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) constituted a place acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes under section 52(i) of the Commonwealth Constitution. This determination was relevant to the application of certain provisions of the *Construction Industry Training Act 2006* (SA).

The court was required to determine two primary questions. Firstly, whether the land in question, which formed part of the ARTC's rail network between 2009 and 2013, was a place acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes within the meaning of section 52(i) of the Constitution. Secondly, if the answer to the first question was no, the court was to consider whether specific categories of land acquired by the ARTC from the Australian National Railways Commission or from other parties subsequent to 1 July 1998, fell within that constitutional definition.

The court reasoned that there was a historic continuity between the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner, the Australian National Railways Commission (ANRC), and the ARTC. The ARTC was established as the successor in law to the ANRC, continuing the governmental function of operating a rail network. The court found that the ARTC was a body through which the Commonwealth operated in the field of railway construction, maintenance, and access, and that the ARTC rail network land was a place acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes. Consequently, the court answered the first question in the affirmative, rendering the second question moot.