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austlii:cth/CthArbRp/1993/840
appellant. The Commission varied the Nurses (Queensland Public Hospitals) Award 1991 to give effect to the agreement between Queensland Health and the Australian Nursing Federation. The Commission held that...
This case established that the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has broad powers to vary industrial awards. The Commission held that while the Industrial Relations Act sets out specific procedures for varying awards in particular circumstances, these do not limit the Commission's general power to vary awards. The Commission can vary an award to give effect to an agreement between employers and unions, even where the agreement doesn't fit the specific categories mentioned in the Act. This decision was important because it allowed the Commission to implement award restructuring agreements that had been negotiated between Queensland Health and nurses' unions, promoting industrial harmony without requiring the parties to fit their agreement into narrow statutory categories.
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The Commission varied the Nurses (Queensland Public Hospitals) Award 1991 to give effect to the agreement between Queensland Health and the Australian Nursing Federation. The Commission held that it had power under s 38(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1988 (Cth) to vary the award to implement the agreement, notwithstanding that the agreement did not fall within the specific categories in s 38(2) or (3). The variation was made subject to undertakings and conditions considered appropriate by the Commission.