Mi&E Holdings Pty Ltd v Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia

Mi&E Holdings Pty Ltd applied for judicial review of a decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which had set aside a decision of a Deputy President approving an enterprise agreement. The dispute centred on whether the group of employees covered by the agreement was fairly chosen under section 186 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and whether the agreement was validly made. The FWC’s Full Bench appeared to focus on whether the agreement was validly made due to the absence of voting opportunity for a large number of employees who would be covered by it.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Full Bench’s decision contained a jurisdictional error by concluding that the enterprise agreement was invalid due to the inclusion of employees from a greenfields agreement that had not expired. The court examined whether the proposed enterprise agreement expressed itself to cover or apply to the Worsley Project employees, as suggested by the Full Bench. It was determined that neither Item 30(2) nor section 58 of the Fair Work Act rendered the proposed agreement legally ineffective or invalid. Consequently, the Full Bench's premise for setting aside the Deputy President’s decision was flawed, constituting jurisdictional error.

The court concluded that the application should be granted, and the Full Bench's decision should be set aside. The matter was to be remitted to the FWC for reconsideration according to law. The court also noted a procedural uncertainty regarding the appeal process but found it unnecessary to resolve this issue. The final orders included allowing the application, quashing the Full Bench's decision, and directing the FWC to hear and determine the appeal according to law.