CTHCthArbRp

Commonwealth Railways Commissioner v The North Australian Workers Union & Ors; The North Australian Workers Union v The Commonwealth Railways Commissioner; The Amalgamated Engineering Union, The Federated Society of Boilermakers Iron Shipbuilders and Structural Iron and Steel Workers of Australia and The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners of Australia v The Commonwealth Railways Commissioner [1934] CthArbRp 219;

austlii:cth/CthArbRp/1934/219

CthArbRp|1934-11-23

At a glance

AI case summary

Result

appellant. The Court held that it had no jurisdiction to make an award binding upon the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner. The preliminary objection to jurisdiction was upheld.

Key principles

The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration held that the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner was not a 'Commonwealth authority' within the meaning of s 4 of the...
The Court held that the Commissioner, though appointed under the Commonwealth Railways Act 1917 (Cth) and exercising statutory powers, was not a 'Commonwealth authority' because...
The Court reasoned that the term 'Commonwealth authority' in s 4 of the Act referred to bodies corporate or other artificial legal entities established by Commonwealth...
The Court distinguished between the Crown in right of the Commonwealth (which is not bound by statute except by express words or necessary implication) and statutory corporations...

Issues before the court

Whether the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner was a 'Commonwealth authority' within the meaning of s 4 of the Commonwealth Conciliation and...
Whether the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had jurisdiction to make an award binding upon the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner

Plain English Summary

This case concerned whether the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration could make binding industrial awards against the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner. The Court decided it could not. The key issue was whether the Commissioner was a 'Commonwealth authority' under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. The Court ruled that this term meant a body corporate or similar legal entity created by Parliament, not an individual government officer. Because the Commissioner was an individual acting on behalf of the Crown (the Commonwealth government), and because the law did not specifically say it applied to the Crown, the Court had no power to make awards binding on him. This case established important principles about when government bodies are subject to industrial arbitration laws.

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Judgment (2 paragraphs)

[1]

Commonwealth Railways Commissioner v The North Australian Workers Union & Ors; The North Australian Workers Union v The Commonwealth Railways Commissioner; The Amalgamated Engineering Union, The Federated Society of Boilermakers Iron Shipbuilders and Structural Iron and Steel Workers of Australia and The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners of Australia v The Commonwealth Railways Commissioner [1934] CthArbRp 219; (1934) 33 CAR 989; No 273 of 1934 (23 November 1934)