Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd

[2023] FWCA 476

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd

(AG2023/211)

Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd Victorian Medical Physicists Enterprise Agreement

Health and welfare services
COMMISSIONER CIRKOVIC	MELBOURNE, 16 FEBRUARY 2023

Application for approval of the Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd Victorian Medical Physicists Enterprise Agreement

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd Victorian Medical Physicists Enterprise Agreement (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Employer has provided a written undertaking. A copy of the undertaking is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertaking will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertaking will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertaking is taken to be a term of the agreement.

Subject to the undertaking 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 Agreement does not cover all of the employees of the employer, however, taking into account the factors in Section 186(3) and (3A) I am satisfied that the group of employees was fairly chosen.

The Health Services Union of Australia Victoria No. 4 Branch, 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 organisation.

The Agreement was approved on 16 February 2023 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 23 February 2023. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2026.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd, the applicant, sought approval of the Integrated Clinical Oncology Network Pty Ltd Victorian Medical Physicists Enterprise Agreement 2015. The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) by Commissioner A. M. Woods, with the decision handed down on 16 March 2016. The application was opposed by the Victorian Branch of the Australian Institute of Radiography (the AIRA), which argued that the agreement did not meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

The FWC considered whether the agreement was a "single interest employer agreement" as defined by section 225 of the Fair Work Act. The FWC noted that the applicant had satisfied the first criterion, which requires that the employer be a single interest employer. The AIRA argued that the agreement did not meet the second criterion, which requires that the agreement not cover more than one class of employee or more than one kind of employee. The FWC found that the agreement covered more than one kind of employee, as it included both medical physicists and medical radiation scientists. However, the FWC found that the applicant had satisfied the third criterion, which requires that the agreement provide for a minimum rate of pay and other conditions of employment.

The FWC held that the agreement was a single interest employer agreement, as the applicant had satisfied all three criteria. The FWC found that the agreement provided for a minimum rate of pay and other conditions of employment, and that the applicant was a single interest employer. The FWC noted that the agreement covered more than one kind of employee, but found that this did not preclude it from being a single interest employer agreement. The FWC concluded that the agreement met the requirements of the Fair Work Act, and approved the agreement.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established