Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated of NSW v Director of Public Employment

The Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated of NSW (PSA) appealed to the High Court of Australia against the Director of Public Employment. The dispute concerned the constitutional validity of section 146C(1) of the *Industrial Relations Act 1996* (NSW), which required the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales (the Commission) to give effect to government policy declared by regulation when making or varying awards or orders. The PSA argued that this provision impaired the institutional integrity of the Industrial Court of New South Wales, which comprises judicial members who also sit as part of the Commission.

The High Court was required to determine whether section 146C(1) of the *Industrial Relations Act 1996* (NSW) impermissibly infringed upon the institutional integrity of the Industrial Court of New South Wales. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether the requirement for judicial members of the Commission to comply with government policy, as declared by regulation, when exercising their functions as part of the Commission, created an unacceptable incompatibility with their roles as members of the Industrial Court, a superior court of record that could be invested with federal jurisdiction. The Court also had to construe the meaning of "policy" within the context of section 146C(1) and consider the constitutional character of regulations made under that provision.

The High Court reasoned that the term "policy" in section 146C(1) referred to principles or courses of action adopted by the government, rather than specific directions dictating the outcome of particular proceedings before the Commission. The Court noted that section 146C expressly did not apply to the Industrial Court itself, and that the legislative framework created two related but distinct bodies. The Court concluded that the operation of section 146C and the relevant regulation did not give rise to an impermissible incompatibility between the judicial members' functions as part of the Commission and their functions as members of the Industrial Court. The appeal was dismissed.