South Australian Farmers Federation Industrial Association
[2012] FWA 8374
•1 OCTOBER 2012
[2012] FWA 8374 |
|
DECISION |
Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009
s.30(1)(c) RO Act - Cancellation of registration on FWA's Own Motion
South Australian Farmers Federation Industrial Association
(D2012/200)
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT ACTON | MELBOURNE, 1 OCTOBER 2012 |
Cancellation of registration of the South Australian Farmers Federation Industrial Association on Fair Work Australia’s own motion.
[1] The South Australian Farmers Federation Industrial Association (‘SAFFIA’) was registered as an organisation under the Industrial Relations Act 1988 (‘the IR Act’) by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission on 26 July 1967.
[2] On 25 November 1996 the IR Act was renamed and amended by the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (‘the WR Act’). With effect from 1 July 2009 all of the provisions of the WR Act with the exception of Schedules 1 and 10 were repealed and the WR Act was renamed the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (‘the RO Act’).
Relevant Legislation
[3] Section 30 of the RO Act deals with the cancellation of the registration of an organisation on technical grounds, etc. Sub-section 30(1) provides as follows:
“(1) FWA may cancel the registration of an organisation: ...
(c) on FWA’s own motion, if:
(i) FWA has satisfied itself, as prescribed, that the organisation is defunct”.
[4] Sub-section 30(2) of the RO Act provides that before FWA cancels the registration of an organisation under paragraph 30(1)(c) it must give the organisation an opportunity to be heard.
[5] Regulation 36 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Regulations 2009 (‘the RO Regulations’) provides as follows:
“(1) For paragraph 30(1)(c) of the Act, FWA must, with a view to satisfying itself that an organisation is defunct, comply with the following subregulations.
(2) FWA must make appropriate inquiries by letters sent by post to:
(a) the organisation at its office; and
(b) the members of the committee of management of the organisation as last known to FWA at their postal addresses as last known to FWA.
(3) If, after inquiries made under subregulation (2), FWA fails to satisfy itself whether the organisation is defunct, FWA must publishin the Gazette a notice stating that:
(a) subject to consideration of any objections lodged in accordance with the notice, the registration of the organisation will, at the end of one month after the date of publication of the notice, be cancelled on the ground that the organisation is defunct; and
(b) a person who wishes to show cause why the registration of the organisation should not be cancelled on that ground may, within one month after the date of publication of the notice, lodge with FWA a notice of objection.
(4) A notice of objection must:
(a) be in the form set out in the Procedural Rules or in a form otherwise approved by the President; and
(b) be lodged with FWA; and
(c) comply with the requirements of regulation 14.
(5) If a person has lodged a notice of objection under paragraph (3)(b), FWA must give the person an opportunity to appear before it and to be heard in support of the objection.”
Consideration
[6] Rule 8 of the rules of SAFFIA provides that eligibility to join SAFFIA is restricted to persons, partnerships or companies who are members of the South Australian Farmers Federation Incorporated (‘the SAFF Inc’) and such other persons who have been appointed to offices in SAFFIA. Its services address is the address of the SAFF Inc and its telephone contact number is also that of the SAFF Inc.
[7] Since 2009 SAFFIA has failed to comply with a number of fundamental requirements set out initially in the WR Act and subsequently in the RO Act. These include failing to hold elections as prescribed in its rules, failing to lodge annual returns of office holders pursuant to s.233 of both the WR Act and the RO Act and failing to lodge financial statements pursuant to s.268 of both the WR Act and the RO Act.
[8] On 8 August 2012 I sent a letter in accordance with sub-regulation 36(2) of the RO Regulations to SAFFIA and separately to each of the members of the committee of management of SAFFIA as last known to FWA. The letter was sent to their postal address as last known to FWA.
[9] Each of the letters set out, amongst other things, the deficiencies in SAFFIA’s compliance with relevant requirements in the WR Act or the RO Act. The letters went on to advise that FWA intended to take action under sub-paragraph 30(1)(c)(i) of the RO Act. The letters also advised that the recipients of the letters could object to FWA cancelling the registration of SAFFIA.
[10] On 17 September 2012, the Executive Officer of SAFFIA wrote to FWA to advise that he had been instructed by the President of SAFFIA to confirm that there were no objections to the cancellation of the registration of SAFFIA.
[11] The matter of the cancellation of the registration of SAFFIA pursuant to paragraph 30(1)(c) of the RO Act was also listed for hearing before FWA on 28 September 2012.
[12] No objections to the cancellation of the registration of SAFFIA have been received by FWA.
[13] Having regard to the inquiries made by FWA in accordance with sub-regulation 36(2) of the RO Regulations, the correspondence received from the Executive Officer of SAFFIA, the opportunities given by FWA to persons to object to the cancellation of the registration of SAFFIA, including at the hearing on 28 September 2012, and the absence of objections to the cancellation of the registration of SAFFIA, I am satisfied SAFFIA is defunct.
Conclusion
[14] Accordingly, I have decided to cancel the registration of the South Australian Farmers Federation Industrial Association with effect on and from 8 October 2012. An order giving effect to my decision is attached as PR529678.
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer
<Price code A, PR529677>
0
0
0