Ex parte Professional Engineers' Association

The case of *Ex parte Professional Engineers' Association* concerned an application for a writ of prohibition brought by the Professional Engineers' Association against the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The Association sought to prevent the Court from proceeding with a compulsory conference and subsequent arbitration concerning a dispute between the Association and certain employers. The core of the dispute revolved around the eligibility of certain individuals to be members of the Association, and consequently, their eligibility to be represented by the Association in industrial proceedings.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had jurisdiction to entertain the dispute. Specifically, the Court had to determine whether the rules of the Professional Engineers' Association, as registered under the relevant legislation, were such that they validly admitted to membership persons who were not engineers, thereby potentially rendering the dispute outside the scope of the Court's arbitral powers. The question also touched upon the interpretation of the rules of registered organisations and the extent to which the Court could inquire into the validity of membership based on those rules.

The High Court, in its judgment, reasoned that the rules of a registered organisation, once registered, are determinative of its membership and its capacity to have industrial disputes dealt with by the Commonwealth Court. The Court held that the rules of the Professional Engineers' Association, as registered, did not restrict membership solely to persons who were engineers by profession. Consequently, the dispute brought before the Commonwealth Court, which involved individuals whose eligibility for membership was based on the broad terms of the Association's rules, was within the Court's jurisdiction. The Court emphasised that the validity of the rules themselves, as registered, was not a matter for collateral attack in prohibition proceedings; rather, the Court's jurisdiction was engaged if the dispute, as presented, fell within the ambit of the registered organisation's rules.

The application for a writ of prohibition was accordingly dismissed.