Healthe Care Valley Pty Ltd trading as Healthe Care Summary

[2025] FWCA 1593

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Healthe Care Valley Pty Ltd trading as Healthe Care

(AG2025/1296)

HEALTHE CARE VICTORIAN HOSPITALS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AGREEMENT 2024

Health and welfare services
COMMISSIONER REDFORD	MELBOURNE, 16 MAY 2025

Application for approval of the Healthe Care Victorian Hospitals Health Professionals Agreement 2024

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Healthe Care Victorian Hospitals Health Professionals Agreement 2024 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Healthe Care Valley Pty Ltd t/as Healthe Care (Healthe Care). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement made by Healthe Care and two related employers:

-Hobson Healthcare Sydenham Pty Ltd; and
-Hobson Healthcare Werribee Pty Ltd

Notice of Employee Representational Rights

The Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) distributed to employees appears to have a different name for the Agreement to that which was eventually made. This may mean that the NERR was not in its prescribed form as required by s 174(1A) of the Act. However, I am satisfied that this is a minor or technical error and employees covered by the Agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by it. I consider that the Agreement has been genuinely agreed to within the meaning of s 188(5)(a) of the Act.

  Undertakings

In response to several issues raised with Healthe Care in relation to its application, it has provided written undertakings, a copy of which are attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. In accordance with s 190(4) of the Act, the views of the bargaining representatives were sought in relation to these undertakings, who expressed a view resulting in further variation to the form of the final undertaking provided. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement.
The undertakings relate to:

a.Wages – Chief Grade 1 Year 3
b.Casual employee – Overtime trigger

Interaction with the National Employment Standards

Clause 7 of the Agreement provides that the National Employment Standards (NES) applies to employees covered by the agreement and, where they provide a more favourable outcome to an employee than the provisions of the Agreement, will prevail in that respect (NES precedence clause). On this basis, I am satisfied that the apparent inconsistencies with the NES outlined below do not prevent the approval of this agreement:

a.Clause 28(e) of the Agreement, which deals with public holidays, does not expressly provide for an entitlement for employees to refuse to work on a public holiday, within the meaning of s 114 of the Act. On the basis of the NES precedence clause, the superior entitlement provided for in the NES will apply. 

Consideration

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.
The Health Services Union Victoria No.3 Branch trading as the Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the VAHPA.
The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate 7 days after approval.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

ANNEXURE A

Healthe Care Valley Pty Ltd, trading as Healthe Care, applied to the Fair Work Commission for the approval of the Healthe Care Victorian Hospitals Health Professionals Agreement 2024. The agreement sought to regulate the terms and conditions of employment for health professionals within the Victorian hospitals operated by Healthe Care. The dispute centred around whether the proposed agreement complied with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, specifically regarding the procedural fairness and the substantive fairness of the agreement.

The court was tasked with determining whether the agreement had been fairly and properly made, and if it complied with the relevant legislative provisions. This included examining whether Healthe Care had provided adequate information to the employees and whether the agreement was made without coercion or undue influence. Additionally, the court assessed whether the agreement met the criteria for substantive fairness, including its alignment with the national minimum standards and whether it provided for appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Fair Work Commission found that the agreement was made in accordance with the legal requirements. The commission noted that Healthe Care had provided sufficient information to the employees and had not acted in a manner that undermined the fairness of the agreement. Furthermore, the commission was satisfied that the agreement was substantively fair, providing adequate protections and benefits to the employees while aligning with the national minimum standards. Consequently, the commission approved the Healthe Care Victorian Hospitals Health Professionals Agreement 2024.

The final orders included the approval of the agreement, which would now govern the employment conditions for the specified health professionals within the Victorian hospitals operated by Healthe Care. The agreement was set to commence on the first day of the month following the date of the commission's decision.

Healthe Care Valley Pty Ltd trading as Healthe Care

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established