Flight Attendants' Association of Australia; Transport Workers Union & Anor v Qantas Airways Limited & Anor

The Flight Attendants' Association of Australia and the Transport Workers Union, along with two individual flight attendants, brought proceedings against Qantas Airways Limited and Qantas Superannuation Limited. The dispute concerned the interpretation and application of certain provisions within the Qantas Superannuation Plan (the Plan) and the relevant industrial instruments governing the employment of the flight attendants, specifically in relation to redundancy payments and their impact on superannuation entitlements. The matter came before Gleeson J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether redundancy payments made to the flight attendants under their industrial agreements constituted "salary or wages" for the purposes of calculating their superannuation contributions under the Plan. The unions contended that these payments should be included in the superannuation contribution base, while Qantas argued that they were specifically excluded by the terms of the Plan and the relevant legislation. The Court was required to interpret the definitions of "salary or wages" within the Plan's trust deed and rules, as well as consider the interplay with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) and the relevant enterprise agreements.

Gleeson J's reasoning focused on a careful construction of the Plan's rules and the relevant legislative provisions. His Honour found that the definition of "salary or wages" within the Plan's trust deed and rules did not encompass redundancy payments. The Court applied the principle that the terms of a superannuation trust deed are paramount in determining entitlements and contributions, and that payments made upon termination of employment by way of redundancy were distinct from ordinary salary or wages earned during employment. The Court also considered the specific wording of the enterprise agreements, which distinguished between ordinary pay and redundancy payments.

Ultimately, Gleeson J dismissed the application brought by the unions and the individual flight attendants. The Court ordered that the flight attendants' redundancy payments were not to be included as "salary or wages" for the purpose of calculating their superannuation contributions under the Qantas Superannuation Plan.