Re Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance; Ex parte Hoyts Corporation Pty Ltd

The High Court of Australia considered an application for a writ of prohibition by Hoyts Corporation Pty Ltd against the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. The dispute arose from an application made by the Alliance to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) seeking to have certain employment conditions for cinema projectionists declared void. Hoyts sought to prohibit the AIRC from hearing and determining this application.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the AIRC had the constitutional power to make an order declaring void certain provisions of an award, specifically those relating to the employment of projectionists, under section 118A of the *Industrial Relations Act 1988* (Cth). This question turned on the interpretation of the Commonwealth's legislative power under section 51(xxxv) of the *Constitution*, which grants power to legislate with respect to conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State.

The Court reasoned that section 118A of the *Industrial Relations Act 1988* (Cth) purported to confer upon the AIRC a power to make a declaration that would have the effect of altering the rights and obligations of parties to an award, not by way of conciliation or arbitration for the prevention or settlement of an industrial dispute, but by way of a legislative or quasi-legislative act. Such a power was beyond the scope of the constitutional grant of power in section 51(xxxv) of the *Constitution*. The Court held that the power to declare void provisions of an award, as conferred by section 118A, was not incidental to the arbitral power and therefore invalid.

The High Court made absolute the order nisi for a writ of prohibition, preventing the AIRC from proceeding with the application.