Public Service Association of SA Inc v Industrial Relations Commission of SA

The Public Service Association of South Australia Inc (PSA) sought judicial review of a decision made by the Full Commission of the Industrial Relations Commission of South Australia. The PSA contended that the Full Commission had acted in excess of its jurisdiction. The CE supported this submission. The Supreme Court of South Australia, constituted by Doyle CJ, Duggan and Vanstone JJ, was required to determine whether it possessed the jurisdiction to hear this challenge.

The central legal issue was whether the Full Court had jurisdiction to review the decision of the Full Commission, specifically in light of section 206 of the relevant Act. Section 206(1) states that a determination of the Commission is final and can only be challenged as provided by the Act, while section 206(2) permits challenges to the Full Supreme Court on the ground of excess or want of jurisdiction. The PSA argued that the Full Commission's decision was affected by jurisdictional error, and that a recent High Court decision, *Kirk v Industrial Court of New South Wales*, had altered the legal landscape such that section 206 could not preclude this Court's review of such errors.

The Court found that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the challenge. It relied on the High Court's decision in *Public Service Association of South Australia v Federated Clerks’ Union of Australia, South Australian Branch* (1991), which determined that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction in similar circumstances. While acknowledging the force of the submission that *Kirk* might have implicitly overruled the earlier decision by establishing that state legislation cannot exclude judicial review for jurisdictional error, the Court held that it was not open to a State Supreme Court to declare a High Court decision no longer good law. Only the High Court itself has the authority to overturn its own precedents. Therefore, the Court concluded that it was bound by the *PSA* decision and dismissed the summons.