Public Service Association and Professional Officers’ Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales v Secretary for Industrial Relations [2018] NSWIRComm 1061

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales v Secretary for Industrial Relations [2018] NSWIRComm 1061 Hearing dates: 16 October 2017 Date of orders: 15 October 2018 Decision date: 15 October 2018 Jurisdiction: Industrial Relations Commission Before: Chief Commissioner Kite SC; Murphy C; Seymour C Decision: 1 Leave to appeal is granted in respect of: (1) The proper construction of s 175 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996; (2) The capacity of the Commission to consider and interpret documents in the course of proceedings before it other than by reference to s 175; and (3) The proper construction of the word "direction" in s 136(1)(a) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996. 2 Leave is otherwise refused. 3 The appeal is upheld and the decision of Commissioner Newall of 31 May 2017 in this matter is set aside. 4 Any issues which remain outstanding in connection with this matter, being file number 2017/00127296, are allocated to Commissioner Murphy to deal with in accordance with these reasons for decision. Catchwords: APPEAL – leave to appeal – nature of public sector employment – impact of documents which are not industrial instruments on public sector employment – matter of importance in the public interest – leave to appeal granted – meaning of the term "instrument" – power of Commission to interpret documents – power of the Commission to make directions in arbitral proceedings – appeal upheld Legislation Cited: Government Sector Employment Act 2013 Government Sector Employment Rules 2014 Industrial Relations Act 1996 Interpretation Act 1987 Cases Cited: Azevedo v Secretary, Department of Primary Industries and Energy (1992) 35 FCR 284 Coulton v Holcombe (1986) 162 CLR 1 Health Services Union v Director-General, NSW Department of Health [2010] 193 IR 359, 193 IR 359 Notification under Section 130 by PSA&POA Union of NSW of a dispute with Dept of Environmental & Climate Change re implementation of proposed new structure – CMA [2007] NSWIRComm 1096 NSW Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines and Utilities Union and Marrickville Council [2014] NSWIRComm 1006 Rail Corporation New South Wales and Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union, New South Wales [2008] NSWIRComm 101, 174 IR 121 The Industrial Relations Secretary on behalf of Department of Justice (Corrective Services NSW) v Public Service Association and Professional Officers Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales (on behalf of Darren Rudd) (2015] NSWIRComm 11 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales (Appellant)