{"id":"F2024L00569","name":"Fair Entitlements Guarantee (National Projects and Maintenance Group of Companies in Administration) Declaration 2024","slug":"fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":105222,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2024L00569-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name","content":"#### 1 Name\n\n  This instrument is the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (National Projects and Maintenance Group of Companies in Administration) Declaration 2024.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Authority","content":"#### 3 Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 49 of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Declaration","content":"#### 4 Declaration\n\n  The Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 applies in relation to persons who were employed, but are no longer employed, by:\n\n    National Projects Qld Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N 652 810 618\n    National Projects (WA) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 652 507 536\n    National Projects and Maintenance Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 165 833 901\n    National Projects (ACT) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 652 507 634\n    NPM (VIC) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 623 232 637\n\n  which are entities in administration under the Corporations Act 2001.","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument operates exactly within its intended scope. Section 49 of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 was specifically designed to allow the Minister to make declarations extending FEG coverage to companies in administration (rather than just liquidation) on a case-by-case basis. The declaration uses this power precisely as intended — targeting a specific corporate group in administration to protect affected workers. There is no scope creep; it is a textbook exercise of a targeted discretionary power."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 4 operative sections","No defined terms section — relies entirely on definitions in the parent Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012","No conditional logic or exceptions","Single, straightforward declaration with a simple list of five named companies","No cross-references beyond the empowering provision (section 49 of the FEG Act)","Purpose is purely mechanical: naming specific entities to trigger existing statutory scheme"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this does:**\n\nThis is a short legal instrument that triggers a safety net for workers who lost their jobs when a group of related companies went bust.\n\nThe **Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG)** is a government scheme that pays out certain unpaid employee entitlements — like wages, annual leave, and redundancy pay — when a company goes into administration or liquidation and can't afford to pay its workers.\n\nNormally, FEG only kicks in for companies that are actually being **wound up** (liquidated). This declaration is a special power that extends FEG coverage to companies that are only in **administration** — a temporary state where administrators try to save the company or sell it off, rather than immediately closing it down.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\nFormer employees of five specific companies in the \"National Projects and Maintenance Group\":\n- National Projects Qld Pty Ltd\n- National Projects (WA) Pty Ltd  \n- National Projects and Maintenance Pty Ltd\n- National Projects (ACT) Pty Ltd\n- NPM (VIC) Pty Ltd\n\nAll five are currently in administration (a form of insolvency where external administrators are running the company).\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout this declaration, these workers would have to wait until the companies moved from administration to liquidation before they could claim FEG payments — potentially leaving them without money for months. This declaration fast-tracks their access to the safety net immediately.\n\nThis is a targeted, emergency-style intervention for a specific corporate collapse affecting workers across Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT, and Victoria."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not change the substantive scope of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012; it declares that the Act applies to former employees of the five named companies that are in administration. The instrument does not amend the FEG Act, add eligibility rules, or alter funding or procedural mechanisms (section 4)."},"complexity_factors":["Very narrow scope: applies only to five specifically named companies (section 4).","Short and formulaic instrument with clear commencement timing (section 2).","Relies on external statutes for substance: Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 (authority and substantive application) and Corporations Act 2001 (administration status) (sections 3 and 4).","Implementation depends on administrative verification of employment and administration status, which is handled outside this instrument (section 4).","No procedural detail or funding mechanism included in the instrument, so practical effect depends on application of the FEG Act."],"plain_english_summary":"What this instrument does (mechanically)\n\n- The instrument declares that the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 (the FEG Act) \"applies in relation to persons who were employed, but are no longer employed, by\" five named companies that are in administration under the Corporations Act 2001 (section 4). The companies are:\n  - National Projects Qld Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N 652 810 618\n  - National Projects (WA) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 652 507 536\n  - National Projects and Maintenance Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 165 833 901\n  - National Projects (ACT) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 652 507 634\n  - NPM (VIC) Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) - A.C.N. 623 232 637\n  (see section 4).\n\n- The instrument is made under the legal authority of section 49 of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 (section 3) and comes into force the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation (section 2).\n\nOfficial rationale and what the declaration enables\n\n- The instrument itself contains no separate policy statement or explanatory rationale; it records a legal declaration that brings the listed former employees within the operation of the FEG Act (section 4). The instrument does not set eligibility rules, payment mechanics, or funding arrangements — those remain matters of the FEG Act and its administration (the instrument merely declares the Act \"applies\" in relation to the listed persons) (section 4).\n\nWho decides, who is affected, and who pays\n\n- Who decides: The declaration is made under the authority of section 49 of the FEG Act (section 3). The instrument records that decision; it is the mechanism by which the decision to apply the FEG Act to these persons is given legal effect (section 3).\n\n- Who is affected: People who were employed, but are no longer employed, by any of the five listed companies that are in administration (section 4).\n\n- Who pays: This instrument does not specify who pays or how payments are funded. It states only that the FEG Act applies to the listed persons; payment, eligibility and funding detail (if any) follow from the FEG Act and its implementing processes, not from this instrument (section 4).\n\nPractical implications, incentives and burdens\n\n- Behavioural effect: The immediate legal effect is to place the listed former employees within the scope of the FEG Act, thereby channeling their potential claims into the statutory framework established by that Act (section 4). The instrument does not itself change private contracts, company ownership, or commercial arrangements; it only changes the legal regime applicable to certain former employees.\n\n- Verification and administrative work: The declaration depends on the companies being \"entities in administration under the Corporations Act 2001\" (section 4). Implementing the declaration requires administrative verification of employment status and of the companies' administration status; those verification tasks are external to this instrument and are carried out under the FEG Act and relevant administrative processes.\n\n- Compliance burden: The instrument imposes no procedural steps, reporting requirements, or new obligations on the listed companies in the text of the instrument. Any claim, compliance or documentation requirements are governed by the FEG Act and its administering body, not by this declaration (sections 3–4).\n\nCosts, trade-offs and implementation risks\n\n- Costs and funding: The instrument does not identify who bears financial cost. Any fiscal effect or claim payments arising from extending the FEG Act to these persons depends on the FEG Act's substantive and procedural provisions rather than on this declaration (section 4).\n\n- Trade-offs and opportunity cost: The instrument's trade-off is procedural and administrative rather than substantive in law: it changes the legal pathway for these former employees without amending the FEG Act itself. The instrument does not address alternative remedies or how claims under other avenues should be treated.\n\n- Implementation risks: Effective operation requires accurate identification of eligible persons and confirmation that the named companies are in administration under the Corporations Act 2001 (section 4). Errors in identification or in administrative application of the FEG Act could delay or complicate claim handling.\n\nEffects on markets and private actors\n\n- The instrument does not state or prescribe effects on competition, prices, productivity, ownership or contract freedom. Mechanically, it alters the legal route available to the listed former employees for seeking entitlements by making the FEG Act applicable to them (section 4). Any broader market effects would depend on how the FEG Act operates in practice and are not specified in the instrument.\n\nKey sections cited: commencement (section 2), authority (section 3), and the operative declaration listing affected companies and noting administration status (section 4)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d","history":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d/history","analysis":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/fair-entitlements-guarantee-national-projects-and-maintenance-group-of-companies-in-administration-d/documents"}}