CTHCthArbRp

Australian Railways Union v The Victorian Railways Commissioners & Ors; The Federation of Salaried Officers of Railways Commissioners v The Railway Commissioners for New South Wales & Ors; Re Victorian Railways Daily Paid and Salaried Grades Award [1937] CthArbRp 156;

austlii:cth/CthArbRp/1937/156

CthArbRp|1937-06-23

At a glance

AI case summary

Result

defendant. The applications were dismissed. The Court held that it had no jurisdiction to make awards in respect of State railway employees because such employment was not 'industrial' within the meaning of...

Key principles

The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration held that the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904–1934 (Cth) did not authorise the making of an award which...
The Court held that the term 'industrial' in s 4 of the Act referred to matters pertaining to the relationship of employers and employees in an industry, and that the...
The Court held that the State railway authorities, being instrumentalities of the Crown in right of a State, were not 'employers' within the meaning of s 4 of the Act, which...
The Court held that the exclusion of State railway employees from the jurisdiction of the Court was not affected by the insertion of s 51(xxxv) into the Constitution by...

Issues before the court

Whether State railway employees are employed in 'industry' within the meaning of s 4 of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904–1934...

Plain English Summary

This case concerned whether the Commonwealth industrial relations tribunal could make awards setting pay and conditions for employees of State government railway authorities. The Court decided that it could not, because the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act only covered 'industrial' employment relationships between private employers and employees, not the relationship between a State government and its servants. The Court said that running railways was a government function, not a commercial business, so the employment was not 'industrial'. Even though the Constitution had been changed in 1929 to remove a specific exclusion of State railways from Commonwealth power, the Court said this did not automatically bring State railway workers under the existing Act. The Parliament would need to pass new laws to do that.

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Judgment (2 paragraphs)

[1]

Australian Railways Union v The Victorian Railways Commissioners & Ors; The Federation of Salaried Officers of Railways Commissioners v The Railway Commissioners for New South Wales & Ors; Re Victorian Railways Daily Paid and Salaried Grades Award [1937] CthArbRp 156; (1937) 37 CAR 909; Nos 152 and 295 of 1937 (23 June 1937)