Director-General of the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities v New South Wales Teachers Federation [2012] NSWIRComm 93

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Director-General of the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities v New South Wales Teachers Federation [2012] NSWIRComm 93 Hearing dates: 7 July 2012 Decision date: 28 August 2012 Jurisdiction: Industrial Court of NSW Before: Boland J, President Decision: The Court makes the following orders: (1) The NSW Teachers Federation is guilty of contravening the dispute order made by Walton J, Vice President on 25 June 2012 in Matter No IRC 697 of 2012. (2) The NSW Teachers Federation is fined an amount of $17,500 in relation to the contravention that occurred on 27 June 2012. (3) The penalty imposed by order (2) hereof is payable within 28 days of the date of this judgment. Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT 1996 - Dispute orders - s 139 - contravention by New South Wales Teachers Federation - relevant principles - strike action taken in relation to Government plans for significant and far reaching school reform - deliberate breach - consideration of prior offences and refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing - penalty imposed at high end Legislation Cited: Industrial Relations Act 1996 Cases Cited: Bluescope Steel (AIS) Ltd v AWU and Anor (No 2) [2005] NSWIRComm 210 Director General NSW Department of Education and Communities v NSW Teachers' Federation [2012] NSWIRComm 54 Director General of Education and Communities v NSW Teachers Federation [2012] NSWIRComm 92 Director General, Department of Education and Training v New South Wales Teachers' Federation [2000] NSWIRComm 103 Director General, NSW Department of Education and Training and the Managing Director of TAFE v NSW Teachers Federation [2010] NSWIRComm 77 Director-General of the NSW Department of Education and Communities and Managing Director of TAFE NSW v New South Wales Teachers Federation [2012] NSWIRComm 58 Director-General, NSW Department of Education and Training v NSW Teachers Federation [2010] NSWIRComm 44 Fire and Rescue NSW on behalf of Department of Premier and Cabinet v New South Wales Fire Brigade Employees' Union [2012] NSWIRComm 76 Category: Principal judgment Parties: NSW Department of Education and Communities (Applicant) NSW Teachers' Federation (Respondent) Representation: Mr S Benson of counsel (Applicant) Mr N Dawson of counsel (Respondent) Crown Solicitor's Office (Applicant) Federation Law Lawyers (Respondent) File Number(s): IRC 723 of 2012