Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd T/A Kookaburra Sport

[2021] FWCA 6870

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd T/A Kookaburra Sport
(AG2021/8419)

KOOKABURRA SPORT PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2022

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER CIRKOVIC	MELBOURNE, 26 NOVEMBER 2021

Application for approval of the Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2022.

[1] Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd T/A Kookaburra Sport (the Applicant) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2022 (the Agreement) pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The matter was allocated to my Chambers on 24 November 2021.

[3] On 24 November 2021, my Chambers sent correspondence to the parties seeking to address concerns with certain aspects of the Agreement and invited the parties to address these matters. The concerns were as follows:

• Chambers sought lodgement of voting details and materials provided to employees absent from the workplace at the time the NERR was provided to ensure that agreement pre-approval requirements have been satisfied.

• Clarification was requested regarding trainees and apprentices to ensure all employees to be covered by the Agreement will be better off overall.

[4] The United Workers’ Union, 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) of the Act I note that the Agreement covers this organisation.

[5] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[6] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 7 days after the date of approval of the Agreement. The nominal expiry date is 26 November 2024.

COMMISSIONER

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CaseChat Overview and Summary

Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd, trading as Kookaburra Sport, applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of its 2022 enterprise agreement. The dispute involved the terms and conditions of employment for the company's staff, with the application seeking to formalise various aspects of the workplace relationship. The Fair Work Commission was the tribunal tasked with evaluating the application under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The primary legal issues the Commission had to address included whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval, particularly whether it provided for a safety net of minimum entitlements and whether it was made in good faith and without coercion. Additionally, the Commission needed to determine if the agreement complied with any relevant award or registered agreement and whether it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment.

The Commission found that the agreement did meet the statutory requirements for approval. It was determined that the agreement provided for a safety net of minimum entitlements and was made in good faith and without coercion. The Commission also concluded that the agreement was consistent with any relevant award or registered agreement and that it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment. Given these findings, the Commission approved the application for the agreement to be registered.

The final orders of the Commission were that the application for approval of the Kookaburra Sport Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement 2022 be granted. The agreement was to be registered from the date of the decision, thereby formalising the terms and conditions of employment for the company's staff as per the approved agreement.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established