Fair Work Commission

Fair Work Commission
Established 2009
Country Australia
Composition method Appointed by the Governor-General of Australia on the recommendation of the Australian Government
Authorized by Fair Work Act 2009
Website FWC website
President
Currently Justice Iain JK Ross AO
Since 2012
Jurist term ends Until the age of 65
Vice Presidents
Currently Adam Hatcher;
Joe Catanzariti AM
Jurist term ends Until the age of 65

The Fair Work Commission (FWC), formerly known as Fair Work Australia (FWA),[1] is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the Fair Work Act 2009 as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australia.[2][3] Operations commenced on 1 July 2009 as the successor of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Bernadette O'Neill is its current general manager.

FWC's functions include the setting and varying industrial awards, minimum wage fixation, dispute resolution, the approval of enterprise agreements, and handling claims for unfair dismissal. It is the successor body to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, though it also performs functions previously performed by the Workplace Authority and the Australian Fair Pay Commission.

Role

FWC is an independent body with the power and authority to regulate and enforce provisions relating to minimum wages and employment conditions, enterprise bargaining, industrial action, dispute resolution, and termination of employment.[4]

The Fair Work Act is an attempt to create a more national system for regulating industrial relations in Australia. Each state has the discretion to hand over some or all of their industrial relations powers to the Commonwealth, and should a state decide to refer their powers to a centralized and national industrial relations system, all the employees of that state would effectively be covered by the national Fair Work Act. The FWC has taken over the roles of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in matters of workplace disputes and industrial actions. It is also involved in the process of determining national industrial relations policies, including setting minimum wages and regulating the award system. Since the introduction of the Fair Work Act, all states except Western Australia have referred their powers to the Commonwealth.[5]

Structure

As of its date of conception, all FWC members were previously members of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The FWC has a President (Justice Iain JK Ross AO), a number of Deputy Presidents and Commissioners. The General Manager reports to the President and is responsible for administration. This position replaced the Industrial Registrar. The inaugural President was Justice Giudice. He retired from this position in February 2012, and was succeeded by former Victorian Supreme Court judge, now Federal Court judge Iain Ross.[6]

FWC has members based in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

The members of the FWC, as at 2 December 2016 are:[7]

President

Vice Presidents

Deputy presidents

Commissioners

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Amendment Act". Fair Work Commission. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Jeremy (1 July 2009). "Unions welcome new Fair Work Act". The 7:30 Report. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Fair Work Act 2009
  4. ↑ Fair Work Information Statement, Fair Work Ombudsman
  5. ↑ Cooper, R; Ellem, B (2009). "Fair Work and the Re-regulation of Collective Bargaining". Australian Journal of Labour Law. 22 (3): 284–305.
  6. ↑ Hannan, Ewin (25 February 2012). "All sides approve of Fair Work appointees". The Australian. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "FWC Members". Fair Work Commission. Retrieved 6 December 2016.

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