Commission Celebrates Centenary

The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal established under the Industrial Relations Act 1979 to deal with industrial matters in the State of Western Australia by conciliation or, if necessary, arbitration. The main objectives of the Commission are to prevent and settle industrial disputes.

The Department of the Registrar is a Government Department established to support the Commission in its objectives and the Registrar in his duties under the Industrial Relations Act 1979.

The Western Australian Industrial Relations System

(The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission and Related Courts and Jurisdictions)

  Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court  Full Bench  Commission in Court Session  
  President  Commissioners Sitting Alone  The Registrar  

The Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court

The Western Australian  Industrial Appeal Court (IAC) is made up of a Presiding Judge and two other Judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the Chief Justice.

The IAC hears appeals against decisions of the President, Full Bench and the Commission in Court Session, but only on the grounds that the decision is in excess of jurisidiction, that the decision is erroneous in law or on the ground that the appellant has been denied the right to be heard.

Applications for a stay of operation of decisions of the Commission pending appeal to the IAC are heard by a single judge.

The Full Bench

The Full Bench is constituted by the President of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission and at least 2 other Commissioners.

The Full Bench hears and determines appeals against the decisions of Commissioners, and Industrial Magistrates.  The Full Bench also deals with applications for registration of organisations under the Act, the amendment of organisation rules where those amendments affect the eligibility for membership and other matters to do with organisations, answers questions of law referred to it by the Commission and reviews decisions of the Coal Industry Tribunal.

The decision of the Full Bench can be by majority of the members.

Appeals against decisions of the Full Bench are heard by the Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court.

The Commission in Court Session

The Commission in Court Session is constituted by at least three Commissioners.

The Commission in Court Session deals mainly with matters of particular importance.  Notably the State Wage Case, applications for General Orders and any matter referred by a Commissioner that the Chief Commissioner agrees is suitably important.  The Commission in Court Session also reviews the Minimum Wage and makes a recommendation to the Minister for Labour Relations as to what level it should be.

The Commission in Court Session also hears appeals against determinations of Boards of Reference.

The President of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission

The President presides over the Full Bench and also sits alone to determine matters within his jurisdiction.

When the President sits alone he constitutes the Commission.

The President, sitting alone, hears applications for the stay of operation of decisions of the Commission and Industrial Magistrates pending the hearing of an appeal by the Full Bench.

The President hears applications by the Registrar and members and affected non-members of organisations for orders regarding the compliance with and validity and observance of organisations rules, and matters relating to elections in those organisations.

Commissioners Sitting Alone

The Chief Commissioner, the Senior Commissioner and each of the Commissioners all constitute the Commission when sitting alone.  The kinds of applications dealt with by Commissioner sitting alone, include the following types:

• Applications for awards and to vary awards
• Applications to register Industrial Agreements
• Applications for Compulsory Conferences to settle disputes.
• Applications by individuals claiming Unfair Dismissal and Denied Contractual Entitlements.
• Applications for orders regarding conditions of employment, procedural matters and other issues.

The Commission will try to conciliate all matters before it by way of conference and discussion to assist the parties to reach agreement.  The Commission does not proceed to arbitrate a matter unless it is satisfied that there is no prospect of conciliation succeeding.

Registrar

The Registrar is responsible for the recording of the registration of organisations under the Industrial Relations Act 1979. The Registrar is also responsible for the registration and processing of all applications and documents to be put before the the Commission.

Allocation of Matters

The Chief Commissioner allocates to a Commissioner each application made to the Commission. The practice of the Chief Commissioner is usually to allocate applications from the main industry sectors to particular Commissioners for a period of time after which they may then be allocated applications from other industry sectors. This practice enables employers, their organisations and unions to know in advance to whom a matter is likely to be allocated; this is often of assistance if the matter is urgent and prior notification to the Commission of the urgent matter is appropriate. The practice assists in dealing with matters promptly also enables Commissioners to add to their knowledge of the State’s industries and industrial relations.

As a result, the WAIRC Commissioners are experienced in dealing with industrial matters in almost every industry sector in the State.

The current list of the main industries from which applications may be made to the Commission and the Commissioners to whom those applications will usually be allocated is set out for information. Not every industry is mentioned. Although the Commission accepts applications from any industry sector, the jurisdiction of the Commission to deal with some applications may be overridden by the Commonwealth Workplace Relations Act, 1996 where the employer is a constitutional corporation.

Applications made to the Public Service Arbitrator, and applications by individual employees claiming unfair dismissal or that they have not been given a benefit under their contract of employment, may not necessarily be allocated only by reference to the “industry” in which the work was performed.

Where the Commission is asked to assist parties by informal mediation, conciliation or private arbitration, the parties may ask the Chief Commissioner for the request to be passed to a particular Commissioner. The Chief Commissioner will consider such requests along with the Commissioner’s availability, workload and other relevant factors.

Industry Allocation