EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1986 No. 395
Trade Union Training Authority Regulations (Amendment)
(Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations)
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (No.1) 1985 amended the Trade Union Training Authority Act 1975 (“the “Act”) to provide, inter alia, for membership of the Australian Council for Union Training and the various Regional Councils for Union Training established under the Act of elected representatives of the officers and staff of the Trade Union Training Authority (“the Authority”).
On 7 August 1986 Statutory Rules 1986 No 203 were promulgated under which a Council for Union Training for the Australian Capital Territory was established. The membership of that Council is also to include an elected staff representative. In each case the election of the staff representative is to be in accordance with procedures prescribed by regulation.
The regulations now prescribe procedures for the election of staff representatives to the various councils referred to above.
Details of the regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 amends regulation 5 of the Trade Union Training Authority Regulations by substituting a new paragraph 1(e) and adding a new sub-regulation (5). The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that, consistent with the intention of the regulations establishing the Council for Union Training in the Australian Capital Territory, only those officers and employees of the Authority employed in relation to the Australian Capital Territory are eligible to participate in the election of the staff representative on that Council.
Regulation 2 provides for the repeal of Part IV of the regulations which deals with the limit on contracts not requiring approval by the Minister. That provision is re-enacted as new regulation 46. Regulation 2 substitutes a new Part IV - ELECTION OF STAFF REPRESENTATIVES - and inserts new Part V - MISCELLANEOUS and new Schedules 1 and 2.
New Part IV provides procedures for the election of staff representatives and comprises new regulations 14 to 44.
- new regulation 14 provides definitions of the terms “election”, “return envelope” and “Returning Officer”;
- new regulation 15 provides that the Electoral Commissioner shall appoint a person to be the Returning Officer for the purposes of an election;
- new regulation 16 sets out the procedure for the commencement of the electoral process and fixing the days for the purposes of elections;
- new regulation 17 makes provision for the National Director to prepare a list of the names and addresses of officers and employees eligible to vote at the election and also provides that a copy of this list be delivered to the Returning Officer;
- new regulation 18 provides for the procedure to be adopted by the Returning Officer in calling for nominations for election to the position of staff representative;
- new regulation 19 sets out the requirements for the nomination of candidates for election;
- new regulation 20 provides for the procedure whereby a person nominated as a candidate for election may withdraw his or her consent to the nomination;
- new regulation 21 sets out the procedure to be adopted by the Returning Officer when nominations close and provides that if no nominations are received the election shall be taken to have wholly failed;
- new regulation 22 sets out the criteria of eligibility for those persons who are entitled to vote at an election for the position of staff representative and is intended to ensure that only those persons whose employment relates to work within the responsibilities of a particular Council are eligible to vote in the election in respect of that Council;
- new regulation 23 stipulates that each person who is entitled to vote at an election shall have only one vote;
- new regulation 24 provides for the format of ballot papers and stipulates that the Returning Officer shall initial each ballot paper before it is issued;
- new regulation 25 provides the procedure for the dispatch of ballot papers and pre-paid envelopes to those persons eligible to vote at an election;
- new regulation 26 provides that private post office boxes, under the control of the Returning Officer, shall be used for the receipt of ballot papers in respect of an election;
- new regulation 27 provides for the procedure whereby a person entitled to vote at an election who has not received a ballot paper or whose ballot paper has been lost or destroyed may be issued with a replacement ballot paper;
- new regulation 20 stipulates the procedure to be adopted by the voter at an election in recording his or her vote on the ballot paper and in returning the ballot paper;
- new regulation 29 provides the procedures for the custody of ballot papers and envelopes returned to the Returning Officer and for their admission to scrutiny after the close of the poll;
- new regulation 30 makes provision for the appointment of scrutineers and provides that all the proceedings in the scrutiny of votes shall be open to the inspection of the scrutineers;
- new regulation 31 sets out the procedures for the scrutiny of votes and declarations on the return envelopes including the rejection of certain ballot papers;
- new regulation 32 provides that the result of an election shall be determined in accordance with the procedure set out in Schedule 2 which deals with the counting of votes and the allocation of preferences of certain ballot papers;
- new regulation 33 sets out the requirements for the retention of ballot papers after the scrutiny has been completed;
- new regulation 34 sets the criteria for identifying informal ballot papers;
- new regulation 35 provides the procedure for the declaration and notification of the result of an election in the Commonwealth Gazette;
- new regulation 36 provides for a recount of the ballot papers received in an election where the Returning Officer agrees to a request by a candidate for a recount or on the Returning Officer’s own motion. The regulation also provides for an appeal by a candidate to the Electoral Commissioner against a decision of the Returning Officer not to conduct a recount;
- new regulation 37 provides that in conducting a recount the Returning Officer shall have the same powers as in the original scrutiny of votes;
- new regulation 38 permits a candidate to dispute the validity of an election and provides for relevant procedures;
- new regulation 39 provides for the establishment and constitution of a committee to decide the validity of an election which is disputed by a candidate;
- new regulation 40 provides for the conduct of an inquiry by a committee established under regulation 39 into the validity of an election;
- new regulation 41 provides that where a committee established under regulation 39 has completed an inquiry into the validity of an election it shall declare the result of that inquiry by notice published in the Commonwealth Gazette and shall give the National Director a report;
- new regulation 42 provides for the effect of the decision of a committee which has conducted an inquiry into the validity of an election;
- new regulation 43 sets out the procedures to be followed where the Returning Officer or a committee established under new regulation 39 believes that there has been an irregularity in the conduct of an election and permits the Returning Officer or the Committee to declare the election void;
- new regulation 44 provides for the Returning Officer to authorise the destruction of ballot papers and envelopes relating to an election after 12 months have elapsed from the publication of the result of the election or of the result of an inquiry into the validity of the election;
New Part V inserts miscellaneous provisions into the regulations and comprises new regulations 45 and 46:
- new regulation 45 declares the Office of the National Director and the National Office of the Authority to be non-Regional offices for the purposes of section 20 of the Act. The purpose of the regulation is to ensure that persons employed at those offices are not eligible to participate in elections in respect of Regional Councils;
- new regulation 46 prescribes $100,000 as the maximum amount for the purposes of paragraph 47(a) of the Act which relates to the monetary amounts under contracts into which the Authority can enter without the approval of the Minister;
- new Schedule 1 sets out the format of the following forms for use in elections:
• Ballot paper (Form 1);
• Declaration by Voter (Form 2);
- new Schedule 2 sets out the procedure for determining the result of an election and deals with the counting of votes, the allocation of preferences and requires the Returning Officer to decide by lot which of the 2 or more candidates who have an equal number of votes should be excluded, where necessary.