R v Booth; Administrative & Clerical Officers' Association, Ex p [1978] HCA 14

High Court of Australia Gibbs, Stephen, Mason, Jacobs and Murphy JJ. R v Booth; Administrative & Clerical Officers' Association, Ex p [1978] HCA 14

ORDER This Court holds that the Deputy Arbitrator had power to make an order granting to the officers of the Australian Public Service concerned in or affected by or likely to be concerned in or affected by this industrial situation a right of appeal against the appointment to positions in the service of persons who are not at the time of their appointment officers of the service, provided, of course, that the Deputy Arbitrator thought such an order necessary or desirable within s. 12D (1) (b) of the Public Service Arbitration Act 1920, as amended. The Deputy Arbitrator therefore wrongly declined jurisdiction and mandamus should issue. Moreover, since the orders in fact made by the Deputy Arbitrator were made on the erroneous assumption that he lacked jurisdiction to determine the merits of the dispute they cannot be allowed to stand and certiorari will issue. Any order for prohibition is then superfluous. The order nisi, so far as it relates to mandamus and certiorari, will be made absolute and so far as it relates to prohibition will be discharged. The respondents other than the Deputy Arbitrator will pay the prosecutors' costs of the application.

The Court delivered the following reasons for judgment:—

May 2 Gibbs, Stephen, Mason, Jacobs and Murphy JJ.

This Court has made absolute an order nisi granted by Jacobs J. so far as it relates to mandamus and certiorari and has discharged the order so far as it relates to prohibition. It is now necessary to give our reasons for taking that course.

On 16th January 1978 the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and the Public Service Board respectively gave notices, for the purposes of s. 12C of the Public Service Arbitration Act 1920 Cth, as amended ("the Act"), informing the Public Service Arbitrator that an industrial situation existed involving the Public Service Board and the Minister on the one hand and members of the Administrative and Clerical Officers' Association ("A.C.O.A.") on the other, and applying to the Arbitrator to exercise his powers under s. 12D of the Act. The particulars given in the notices included the following: