Together Queensland Industrial Union of Employees v Scales & Anor

In the matter of Together Queensland Industrial Union of Employees v Scales & Anor, the Union brought seven applications against the respondents for alleged contravention of the Queensland Public Service Officers and Other Employees Award – State 2015. The Union sought pecuniary penalties as a remedy for the contraventions. The second respondent filed an application for referral of the principal applications to the Full Bench of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (Commission). The Union filed an application for dismissal of the referral application. The first respondent supported the referral application and opposed the dismissal application.

The court was required to determine whether the President of the Commission had jurisdiction to refer the matter to the Full Bench of the Commission and, if the jurisdiction existed, whether the discretion to grant the referral application ought to be exercised. The Union argued that the referral application was an abuse of process, that the matter was not complex enough to warrant referral, and that the proceedings were not quasi-criminal in nature. The Union also submitted that referring the matter to the Full Bench would cause delay, cost, and prejudice.

The court found that the referral application was not an abuse of process, and that there was jurisdiction for the court to make the referral order. The court also found that the principal applications raised novel legal issues that had not previously fallen for consideration by the Commission, the Industrial Court of Queensland, or the Court of Appeal. The important issues raised by the Union ought to be determined authoritatively and expediently. Therefore, the court exercised its discretion in favour of granting the referral application.

The court ordered that the principal applications be referred to the Full Bench of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, that the President sit on the Full Bench, that the applications be set for hearing on 10 and 11 February 2022, that the Union’s application to dismiss the referral application be dismissed, and that the applications be mentioned before Vice President O’Connor for further directions on 15 November 2021 at 9.15 am.