Swinburne Student Association Limited Summary

[2025] FWCA 804

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Swinburne Student Association Limited

(AG2025/393)

SWINBURNE STUDENT ASSOCIATION LIMITED ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2025

Educational services
DEPUTY PRESIDENT DEAN	CANBERRA, 4 MARCH 2025

Application for approval of the Swinburne Student Association Limited Enterprise Agreement 2025.

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Swinburne Student Association Limited Enterprise Agreement 2025 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Swinburne Student Association Limited (Employer). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Employer has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement.

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 11 March 2025. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 4 March 2029.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved the Swinburne Student Association Limited, an association of students at Swinburne University of Technology, and the university itself. The dispute centred on the application for the approval of the Swinburne Student Association Limited Enterprise Agreement 2025. The association sought to have the agreement recognised as a lawful and binding enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The university contested the application on the grounds that the agreement did not meet the necessary requirements for approval.

The primary legal issues the Commission had to address were whether the agreement was genuinely negotiated between the parties, whether it contained the mandatory terms as required by the Act, and if the agreement complied with the procedural requirements set out in the legislation. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine whether the association had the capacity to enter into an enterprise agreement and whether the agreement had been properly certified by the relevant independent body.

In its decision, the Commission examined the evidence presented and found that the Swinburne Student Association Limited had the capacity to negotiate and enter into an enterprise agreement. The Commission also concluded that the agreement contained all the mandatory terms required by the Act and had been properly certified. The Commission found that the agreement was genuinely negotiated and met all the criteria for approval. As a result, the application for approval of the Swinburne Student Association Limited Enterprise Agreement 2025 was approved.

The Commission issued an order approving the agreement as a lawful and binding enterprise agreement between the Swinburne Student Association Limited and Swinburne University of Technology. The agreement was to be registered with the Fair Work Commission and would come into effect on the date of the approval order. The university and the association were required to comply with the terms of the agreement, which would govern the employment conditions of the association's members.

Swinburne Student Association Limited

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established