Fair Work Act 2009

s.739 - Dispute resolution

Application under s 739 - application dismissed

[1] At a conference yesterday, for reasons given on transcript, I dismissed an application made by Nicholas Langdon under s 739 of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the dispute resolution procedure in the University of Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2024 (Agreement). In summary, it was clear that the subject matter of the dispute related to matters that occurred before the Agreement commenced operation and that the dispute was therefore not one arising from the Agreement. Further, the dispute did not relate to the National Employment Standards (NES) because the provisions of the NES relied on by Mr Langdon in his application have been repealed. Accordingly, it was evident that under the terms of the dispute resolution procedure in the Agreement, the Commission had no authority to arbitrate the dispute. The dispute resolution procedure also applies generally to grievances relating to the employment relationship, however such disputes cannot be arbitrated. They may be conciliated, but the University made very clear that it had no interest in conciliation. The application had no reasonable prospects of success and was dismissed. The file is now closed.

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