Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service Limited t/as Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service

NORTHERN NSW HELICOPTER RESCUE SERVICE LIMITED PILOTS AND AIRCREW OFFICER ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT NO. 8

Application for approval of the Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service Limited Pilots and Aircrew Officer Enterprise Agreement No. 8

[1] Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service Limited trading as Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service has applied for approval of a single enterprise agreement known as the Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service Limited Pilots and Aircrew Officer Enterprise Agreement No. 8 (the Agreement).

[2] The Notice of Employee Representational Rights given to employees was based on an earlier version of the prescribed form and so did not meet the requirements of s.174(1A) the Act. I consider this to be a minor technical error in the circumstances, and I am satisfied that employees were not likely to have been disadvantaged by the error.

[3] On the papers and having regard to the Statement of Principles,[1] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Fair Work Act 2009 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Agreement is approved and will operate from 31 March 2026. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2027.

[5] The Agreement covers the Australian Federation of Air Pilots.

[6] In accordance with s.205A(2) of the Act, the workplace delegates' rights term in the Air Pilots Award 2020 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[7] The Applicant has separately applied under s.218A of the Act to correct the following errors:

• replacing the word "Officers" with "Officer" in the Agreement title to align with clause 1.1 of the Agreement;

• correcting various errors in cross-referencing other clauses in the Agreement;

• deleting the words "will be provided" from clause 33.1 which reads "Employees will be entitled to Long Service Leave will be provided in accordance with the long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW)";

• deleting clause number 36.9 and correcting the numbering of the subsequent subclauses under clause 36;

• correcting the numbering of the signatories clause from clause 44 to clause 46 to ensure the numbering remains chronological and

• amending the Table of Contents to reflect the numbering corrections described above.

[8] As the variation application was made before the Agreement was approved, there is some doubt about whether it can be granted. I will instead vary the Agreement on my own initiative to correct what are obvious errors of form rather than substance. A revised version of the Agreement correcting the errors is published with this decision.

[1] Fair Work (Statement of Principles on Genuine Agreement) Instrument 2023.

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