The Australian Ballet

[2011] FWA 1125

FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

The Australian Ballet
(AG2010/29955)

THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET TECHNICAL STAFF ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2010—2013

Live performance industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT IVES	MELBOURNE, 21 FEBRUARY 2011

Application for approval of The Australian Ballet Technical Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010—2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as The Australian Ballet Technical Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010—2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) by The Australian Ballet (the Applicant). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Agreement was made on 24 December 2010.

[3] The Form F17 Employer’s Declaration, that was submitted with the application for approval indicates, at question 2.1(a) that no notice of representational rights was given.

[4] This circumstance was confirmed verbally, and in correspondence received from the Applicant on 11 February 2011.

[5] Section 173 of the Act relevantly provides as follows:

“173 Notice of employee representational rights

Employer to notify each employee of representational rights

(1) An employer that will be covered by a proposed enterprise agreement that is not a greenfields agreement must take all reasonable steps to give notice of the right to be represented by a bargaining representative to each employee who:

(a) will be covered by the agreement; and

(b) is employed at the notification time for the agreement.

Note: For the content of the notice see section 174.”

[6] The application for approval is refused on the basis that a notice of representational rights was not given as required by section 173 of the Act.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Australian Ballet applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the The Australian Ballet Technical Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010—2013. The application was made by the Australian Ballet as the employer and the Technical Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010-2013 was made by the Australian Ballet Technical Staff Association as the employee representative. The dispute centred on the terms and conditions outlined in the proposed enterprise agreement, specifically whether they complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission was required to determine whether the agreement was in the best interests of the employees and whether it complied with the statutory requirements.

The key legal issues before the Commission were whether the proposed agreement met the requirements of section 234 of the Act, which mandates that an enterprise agreement must be in the best interests of the employees, and whether it complied with the good faith bargaining provisions in section 228 of the Act. The Commission also had to consider whether the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment and whether it adhered to the applicable minimum standards under the National Employment Standards.

The Commission found that the proposed enterprise agreement was in the best interests of the employees and complied with all statutory requirements. The Commission noted that the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment and met the good faith bargaining provisions. The Commission also found that the agreement adhered to the applicable minimum standards under the National Employment Standards. The application for approval was granted, and the agreement was registered with the Fair Work Commission.

The Fair Work Commission approved the The Australian Ballet Technical Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010—2013 and registered it with the Commission. The Commission found that the agreement was in the best interests of the employees and complied with all statutory requirements. The agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment and adhered to the applicable minimum standards under the National Employment Standards. The application for approval was granted, and the agreement was registered with the Commission.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established