Secretary of the Treasury v Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales (No 2) [2013] NSWIRComm 25

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Secretary of the Treasury v Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales (No 2) [2013] NSWIRComm 25 Hearing dates: 8 April 2013 Decision date: 12 April 2013 Jurisdiction: Industrial Court of NSW Before: Boland J, President Decision: The Court makes the following orders: (1) The Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales is guilty of contravening the dispute order made by Backman J on 5 October 2012 in Matter No IRC 1029 of 2012. (2) The Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales is fined an amount of $2,500 in relation to the contravention that occurred on 8 October 2012. (3) The penalty imposed by order (2) hereof is payable within 28 days of the date of this judgment. Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE - Contravention of dispute order by organisation of employees - s 139 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 - stop work meetings held in protest at Government policy and proposed changes to award conditions - Dispute order issued by the Commission directing Union to refrain from taking industrial action - No compliance with dispute order - Relevant principles - Contravention admitted - Circumstances of contravention - Consequences of contravention - Deterrence - Subjective factors - Penalty imposed. Legislation Cited: Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 Industrial Relations Act 1996 Cases Cited: BHP Steel Ltd v The Australian Workers' Union, New South Wales [2003] NSWIRComm 151 Bluescope Steel (AIS) Ltd v AWU and Anor (No 2) [2005] NSWIRComm 210 Bluescope Steel Ltd (formerly known as BHP Steel Ltd) v The Australian Workers' Union, New South Wales [2006] NSWIRComm 338 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 The Secretary of the Treasury v Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales [2012] NSWIRComm 110. Texts Cited: Gillooly M and Wallace-Bruce NL, "Civil Penalties in Australian Legislation" (1994) 13(2) U Tas LR 269 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Secretary of the Treasury (Applicant) Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales (Respondent) Representation: Mr A Britt of counsel (Applicant) Mr M Gibian of counsel (Respondent) Crown Solicitors Office (Applicant) W G McNally Jones Staff (Respondent) File Number(s): IRC 1109 of 2012