Pang v Kerry Ingredients Australia Pty Ltd

This matter concerned an application by Mr Pang against Kerry Ingredients Australia Pty Ltd. The dispute before the court related to the validity of a certificate issued by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) under section 368(3)(a) of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth). The applicant argued that the certificate was invalid, thereby preventing the continuation of proceedings.

The central legal issue was whether the certificate issued by the FWC was a valid certificate for the purposes of section 368(3)(a) of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth). This involved determining what information a certificate issued under this provision must contain, and whether the FWC had the authority to issue more than one certificate in relation to the same dispute.

Judge Jarrett reasoned that section 368(3)(a) requires the FWC to issue a certificate when satisfied that reasonable attempts to resolve a dismissal dispute have been unsuccessful. The Act and Regulations do not prescribe a specific form for this certificate. The operative part of the certificate, rather than its heading, is what matters. The certificate must contain sufficient information to identify the particular dispute commenced under section 365 of the Act. The certificate issued on 3 July 2014 was found to adequately identify the dispute, and the FWC had no authority to issue a subsequent certificate once the condition in section 368(3)(a) was met. The naming of a different respondent in a later document did not invalidate the first certificate.

The court found that the certificate issued on 3 July 2014 was properly issued pursuant to section 368(3)(a) of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth).