Health Services Union
[2024] FWC 2730
•1 OCTOBER 2024
| [2024] FWC 2730 |
| FAIR WORK COMMISSION |
| DECISION |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.512—Right of entry
Health Services Union
(RE2024/952)
| DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN | MELBOURNE, 1 OCTOBER 2024 |
Application for a right of entry permit for Lavanya Thavaraja
The Health Services Union (HSU) has made an application under s 512 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) for an entry permit to be issued to Lavanya Thavaraja. Ms Thavaraja has previously held entry permits, first as an officer of the National Union of Workers (NUW), and more recently as an employee of the HSU. The declarations made on behalf of the HSU and by Ms Thavaraja do not disclose any potentially adverse matters in connection with the permit qualification matters in s 513(1)(a) to (f).
As to s 513(1)(g), ‘any other matters that the FWC considers relevant’, I note that Ms Thavaraja’s previous entry permit, which expired on 3 May 2024, was not returned until 6 August 2024. On 25 September 2024, Ms Thavaraja submitted to the Commission a statutory declaration in which she stated that her late return of the previous permit was an oversight that occurred because she had incorrectly recorded the return date on her calendar. Ms Thavaraja disclosed that on one occasion after the permit’s expiry, she issued an entry notice to an employer and attended the workplace. She stated that it was only in late July 2024 that she realised that her permit had expired, after the HSU undertook a stocktake of permits at the end of the financial year. She immediately returned the permit to the Commission.
Section 517(1) of the Act requires a permit holder to return an entry permit within 7 days of its expiry. And Part 3-4 of the Act only allows entry to premises by a person who holds a current permit. Permit holders must observe these requirements. Compliance with the Act requires permit holders to carefully note the expiry dates on their permits. However, I accept that Ms Thavaraja made an innocent mistake. It is also a first mistake. I note that Ms Thavaraja’s first permit, held while she worked at the NUW, was returned on time. I am satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances, that Ms Thavaraja is a fit and proper person to hold a permit and that a permit should be issued to her.
DEPUTY PRESIDENT
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