Administration of Industrial Court and Commission System
Goal, output, division, alignment
Divisional structure
Context
Description of services
Performance
Looking ahead
Divisional structure
Context
The Industrial Court of Queensland, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) and the Industrial Registry are constituted under Chapter 8 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9 MB) . The output has a major responsibility in contributing to the social and economic wellbeing of Queenslanders through furthering the objects of the Industrial Relations Act 1999, which provides a framework for industrial relations that supports economic prosperity and social justice. The Industrial Court and QIRC are independent of government and other interests.
The Industrial Registry is an office of the public service. Funding for the Court and Commission system is provided through the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations, and the department’s Director-General is the accountable officer. The Industrial Registrar is the head of the Industrial Registry, under the Public Service Act 1996 (PDF, 572 KB) .
Description of services
The QIRC provides an independent conciliation, arbitration and agreement approval service in respect of industrial matters including awards, agreements, prevention and settlement of industrial disputes and related matters, unfair dismissals, unfair contracts and wage recovery matters. Matters filed in the Industrial Court, a superior court of record, are predominately appeals from decisions of the Commission and Industrial Magistrates.
In addition to hearing applications about industrial matters, the industrial tribunals have powers to hear matters arising under the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000 (PDF, 984 KB) , the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990, the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (PDF, 1.6 MB) , the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB) , the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (PDF, 788 KB) , the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994 (PDF, 486 KB) , and the Child Employment Act 2006 (PDF, 619 KB) .
The major stakeholders in industrial relations in Queensland are the Queensland Government as the major employer, employer organisations and employee organisations. Each has an interest in the industrial relations framework and the provision of an effective and efficient Queensland economy.
Performance
The federal government’s Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005, which commenced on 27 March 2006 has caused significant change to Queensland’s industrial relations system. Since the introduction of Work Choices the number of matters filed indicates that the QIRC’s workload has reduced by approximately 60%. It is estimated that the workload of the QIRC will decrease to about 40% of its current level over the next two to three years as employees transfer to the federal system under Work Choices amendments.
In response to the reduced workload, the Queensland Government has announced that it will seek to reduce the number of Commissioners by offering redundancy packages. By the end of 2006–07, one Commissioner had retired and two had announced their intention to do so early in the new financial year.
While there has been a reduction in the QIRC’s industrial relations workload, there has been an increase in work under section 550 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (PDF, 1.6 MB) , where if an employee or employer is aggrieved by a QCOMP Review decision, either party can appeal to the QIRC. These matters tend to be rather complex, with a range of interlocutory matters associated with each appeal, involving expert witnesses, with parties usually being legally represented and the average of such hearings being approximately six days. During the year there were 110 appeals relating to QCOMP review decisions.
Inquiries
The commencement of the federal government’s Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 led to an inquiry to examine the impact of that Act on Queensland workplaces, employees and employers. The inquiry, set up on 13 June 2006 under section 265(3) (b) of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9 MB), was at the direction of the former Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport. In particular, the Commission was asked to consider mechanisms for employees to report incidents of unfair treatment as a result of Work Choices.
On 29 January 2007, the inquiry released its report. The Inquiry found that the economic and social impact of Work Choices was far-reaching. The Work Choices legislation had been in operation since March 2006, and there was evidence and submission before the inquiry suggesting a very strong trend that employees, and especially those in less skilled employment, will fare badly as a consequence of Work Choices. The material put before the inquiry including Australian Workplace Agreements, shows a real lowering of wages and conditions of employment for employees. There was no evidence to show that any of the altered conditions provide greater productivity or efficiency for the employer. The only outcome appeared to be lower wages and conditions for employees.
The Inquiry made 16 recommendations about the establishment by the government of a separate statutory body similar to that of the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate with the role of the statutory body to, amongst other roles:
- provide advice and information to the public regarding the promotion of fair industrial relations practices
- raise and contribute to public awareness of fair, reasonable and appropriate workplace practices
- provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for the gathering, recording, referral and dissemination of information concerning unfair, unreasonable and inappropriate work practices.
2006 State Wage Case
The Full Bench of the Commission declared by General Ruling, effective from 1 September 2006:
- a wage adjustment of $19.40 per week increase in award rates of pay
- an increase in the minimum wage for all full-time employees in Queensland to $503.80 per week, with a proportionate amount for junior, part-time and casual employees.
Reviews
The second round of the award review process, a requirement under Section 130 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999, was completed in 2006. This process commenced in 2004-05 to ensure provisions remain current and relevant.
On 1 March 2007, as part of its statutory obligations to ensure the currency of industrial instruments, the QIRC commenced a review of the status of industrial agreements providing for occupational superannuation and enterprise flexibility agreements.
Trading Hours
After three previous trials, a Full Bench of the Commission granted that the 32-hour continuous trading event over 23/24 December each year at the Westfield Chermside Shopping Complex should be made permanent.
On 7 December 2006, a Full Bench of the Commission amended the Trading Hours Order covering South East Queensland to include Beerwah and Nambour, which in effect permitted these localities to have seven-day trading for the first time.
Electronic transcripts
The Recording of Evidence Regulation 1992 was amended to allow the Registry to provide a free electronic copy of transcripts to a party to a proceeding or their representative (subject to any restrictions of the release of the transcript by the Member for the proceeding).
Services
Applications to the Industrial Court |
03–04 |
04–05 |
05–06 |
06–07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Total matters |
104 |
92 |
100 |
72 |
Applications to QIRC | 03–04 |
04–05 |
05–06 |
06–07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Award-related matters |
146 |
164 |
129 |
13 |
Certified Agreements |
982 (including 348 new agreements) |
633 |
487 |
84 |
Queensland Workplace Agreements |
73 |
56 |
32 |
6 |
Reinstatements |
1,575 |
1,469 |
1,053 |
188 |
Disputes |
486 |
534 |
399 |
121 |
Unpaid wages |
152 |
255 |
273 |
195 |
Appeal against QComp |
N/A |
N/A |
59 |
109 |
Cash payments of long service leave |
123 |
71 |
85 |
69 |
Industrial organisations |
65 |
68 |
72 |
111 |
All other applications |
732 |
541 |
444 |
497 |
Total matters |
4,269 |
3,723 |
3,0331 |
1,3931 |
1Reflects the impact on the QIRC’s workload following the introduction of the federal government’s industrial relations changes in March 2006
Looking ahead
- On 8 March 2007, International Women’s Day, the Minister announced an inquiry to be conducted by the QIRC to examine the impact of the federal government’s Work Choices amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 on pay equity in Queensland. The Commission is to:
- examine the effectiveness of the outcomes of the previous pay equity inquiry conducted by the Commission in 2000-01 in advancing pay equity
- assess the impact of the federal government’s Work Choices amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 on the legislative measures addressing pay equity under the State system
- examine the current and possible future impact of the federal government’s Work Choices amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 on pay equity, including its impact on industries and occupations as well as individuals
- consider alternative models and specific policy and legislative options used in other Australian states and other countries in the pursuit of pay equity
- recommend possible policy and legislative options for the Queensland Government to consider implementing in further progressing pay equity
The report of the inquiry is to be presented to the Minister for consideration.
- In response to the changed industrial relations environment, the government has been initiating a number of changes to help to protect Queensland workers. In addition to continuing to offer its existing services, Commissioners will have a role in new jurisdiction matters, including:
- ensuring young workers in the federal jurisdiction are employed on terms and conditions commensurate with employees in the state jurisdiction and are protected from unfair dismissal
- providing an additional independent, transparent and efficient dispute resolution process through the QIRC for resolving issues arising out of a union right of entry under Part 7A of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
- low cost common law jurisdiction avenues (for example, improved access to the Magistrate’s Court, faster conciliation processes) for employees for whom Work Choices has removed access to the QIRC. Commissioners will perform the functions of a conciliator prior to the matter being required to be heard by magistrates.
- On 31 January 2007, the National Retail Association applied to the Commission to amend the Trading Hours Order covering the ‘Townsville Tourist Area” to be extended to include the whole of the local authority areas of the cities of Townsville and Thuringowa. A Full Bench of the Commission conducted inspections and hearings in May 2007.
- The Commission and Registry will continue to progress a range of internal projects designed to further enhance service delivery, including:
- reviewing the Tribunal Rules to reflect new business processes
- enhancing both the internal and external websites including publishing decisions, awards and related documentation on the QIRC website
- developing electronic information guides and fact sheets, particularly to assist industrial organisations’ committees of management and organisations’ members.
Last updated 21 July 2009
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