PP Consultants Pty Ltd v Finance Sector Union of Australia

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by PP Consultants Pty Ltd against the Finance Sector Union of Australia. The dispute concerned whether the Banking Industry – St George Bank Employees – Award 1995 continued to apply to employees of PP Consultants who were engaged to operate a branch agency for St George Bank following the closure of the bank's Byron Bay branch. PP Consultants, which operated a pharmacy, entered into an agreement with the bank to conduct this agency in conjunction with its pharmacy business.

The central legal issue before the court was whether PP Consultants was a "successor, assignee or transmittee" of the bank's business or part of its business, within the meaning of section 149(1)(d) of the *Workplace Relations Act 1996* (Cth). This determination was crucial to establishing whether the award was binding on PP Consultants in relation to the employees it engaged to perform the agency functions. The court also considered whether PP Consultants was conducting the "business" or the "business of banking" of the bank.

The High Court reasoned that while PP Consultants was involved in banking activities, it was not carrying on the business of banking itself, but rather the business of a bank agent. The court found that the bank had not disposed of any part of its business; rather, it had merely changed the method by which it conducted its banking operations in Byron Bay. Consequently, PP Consultants had not acquired any part of the bank's business as a successor, assignee, or transmittee. The court concluded that the award was not binding on PP Consultants in the circumstances.

The appeal was allowed with costs, and the orders of the Full Court of the Federal Court were set aside. In their place, the High Court ordered that the appeal to the Federal Court be dismissed with costs.