Public Service (Terms and Conditions of Employment) (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission) Determination 2024

Covered Employee, Enterprise Agreement, Commissioner and Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission are the central definitional anchors. Covered Employee is defined as a non-SES employee employed in the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission to whom the Instrument applies under s 5 (see s 4 definitions; s 5). The Enterprise Agreement is defined as the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027, as in operation immediately before the commencement of the Instrument (see s 4). Commissioner is the Commissioner of the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, and Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission is the Executive Agency established under s 65 of the Public Service Act 1999 (see s 4).

The Instrument functions as an employing agency determination under the Public Service Act 1999, made under subsection 24(3) (see s 3). It imports the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement as the substantive source of terms and conditions but modifies and omits specified components of that Agreement (see s 7(1) and s 7(2)). The text treats the imported Agreement as if it were the Commission’s own Agreement, instructing that references in the Enterprise Agreement to "Agreement", "Secretary", "Department of Social Services", "employee", and similar terms are to be read as applying to the Enterprise Agreement as applied by this Instrument and to the Commission and the Commissioner respectively, unless context provides otherwise (see s 7(2)(1)-(7)).

Important structural changes include the omission of clause 4 (nominal expiry date), omission of clauses 10-15 (procedures for individual flexibility arrangements), omission of clause 18.1 which appears to contain a base-salary increase, and omission of clauses 20-21 (one-off payments where salary exceeded top of range), as well as omission of remote locality assistance clauses (clauses 412-414 and Table 2) and multiple consultative forum references (clauses 90, 94, 154 and the headlined Workplace Consultative Forum provisions) (see s 7(2)(8)-(12), (13)-(14)). The Instrument substitutes a new Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee provision, permitting the Commissioner to establish and set terms of reference for such a committee (see s 7(2)(14) substitution text).

Interaction with other frameworks is explicitly addressed. The Instrument states it has no effect to the extent it would exclude the NES (see s 10(1)). It also provides that, while in force, the APS Award does not apply to Covered Employees (see s 10(2)). The Instrument is intended to operate concurrently, to the extent possible, with any determination made under subsection 24(1) of the Public Service Act 1999, and does not prevent a subsection 24(1) determination increasing salaries, allowances or other monetary entitlements provided under this Instrument (see s 9(1)-(2)).

The Instrument also incorporates an express dispute-resolution mechanism by designating the Enterprise Agreement’s clauses 444-451 as applying to Covered Employees and, for FW Act purposes, as a procedure for dealing with disputes under the Instrument (see s 8). The Instrument therefore places dispute resolution inside the employments terms it creates rather than leaving that entirely to separate instruments.

Primary affected persons are non-SES employees employed in the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission , those are the Covered Employees (see s 4 definition and s 5). The employing body that must give effect to the Instrument is the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, represented by the Commissioner (see s 4 definitions; s 7(2)(2)-(3) and s 7(2)(4)-(6) substitutions). The Instrument expressly applies to all non-SES employees employed in the Commission pursuant to the Public Service Act 1999 (see s 5). SES (Senior Executive Service) employees are outside the Instrument’s scope by definition.

The Instrument does not apply to Covered Employees if and when either an enterprise agreement starts to apply to the Covered Employee for the purposes of the Fair Work Act 2009 or a workplace determination is made that covers the Covered Employee (see s 6(1)-(2)). Therefore, its coverage is subject to change over time for individual employees depending on the outcome of enterprise bargaining or workplace determinations under the FW Act. The note at s 6 points readers to s 276 of the FW Act for the operation timing of a workplace determination; the Instrument therefore links its termination trigger to an external FW Act mechanism.

Although the substantive terms are sourced from the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027, the Instrument defines the Enterprise Agreement as that document "as in operation immediately before the commencement of this Instrument" (see s 4, Enterprise Agreement definition). That phrasing means the precise version incorporated is the 2024-2027 Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement as it stood immediately before this Instrument began. The Instrument therefore affects those Commission employees by adopting that Agreement’s structure and entitlements, with the listed amendments.

Organisations and parties that will need to engage practically with the Instrument include payroll and HR teams of the Commission (for implementation of pay and allowances, and for adjusting references and omitted entitlements), the Commissioner (who is given express power to establish a consultative committee under s 7(2)(14)), employee representatives or unions (whose representational functions may be altered by the replaced consultative arrangements), and employees themselves who may experience removed entitlements or changes in flexibility rights due to the specified omissions in the Enterprise Agreement (see s 7(2)(9), (10), (11), (12)).

The APS Award is expressly stated not to apply to Covered Employees while this Instrument is in force (see s 10(2)), so bodies or representatives that normally look to the APS Award for employee entitlements will need to apply the amended Enterprise Agreement instead.

The Instrument does not create novel duties or rights outside the Enterprise Agreement; instead it adopts the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 as the primary source of duties and rights for Covered Employees and then prescribes specific textual substitutions and omissions. Section 7(1) states that the terms and conditions of employment applying to a Covered Employee are the terms set out in the Enterprise Agreement, as amended by the Instrument, and are not any of the terms set out in the APS Award. That statutory positioning means rights and duties for Covered Employees are procedurally those in the Enterprise Agreement (as modified) rather than in the APS Award, subject to the NES (see s 10(1) preserving the NES).

Specific rights and duties affected by amendment are:

• Identity and administrative relationships: References in the Enterprise Agreement to "the Secretary of the Department of Social Services" and to "Department" or "Departmental" are to be read as references to the Commissioner and the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission respectively (see s 7(2)(2)-(6)). That substitution affects who is identified as the decision-maker and the corporate employer in the Agreement’s procedural and administrative clauses.

• Scope and definition of employee: A reference in the Enterprise Agreement to an "employee" is a reference to a Covered Employee (see s 7(2)(6)). That alters the Agreement’s audience and who may assert rights under it.

• Temporal reference point: A reference to "commencement of the Agreement" in the Enterprise Agreement is to be read as the commencement of this Instrument (see s 7(2)(7)). This substitution fixes timing for entitlements and time-dependent clauses to the Instrument’s start date.

• Omitted and altered entitlements: The Instrument omits clause 4 (nominal expiry date), clauses 10-15 (individual flexibility arrangements), clause 18.1 (the stated 4.0 per cent base salary increase), clauses 20-21 (one-off payments for particular salary positions), clauses 412-414 and Table 2 (remote locality assistance), and clause 452 (maintenance of disputes notified under the Department’s previous Enterprise Agreement) (see s 7(2)(8)-(12), (14) for clause 452 omission). The omission of these clauses removes those specific rights or procedures from application to Covered Employees.

• Consultative arrangements: The Instrument removes "Workplace Consultative Forum" references in clauses 90, 94 and 154 and replaces the Workplace Consultative Forum headlined provisions (clauses 437-442) with a new Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee clause, which provides that the Commissioner may establish such a committee and that it will operate subject to an agreed terms of reference and structure for the term of the Determination, with representation to be in accordance with the terms of reference (see s 7(2)(13)-(14)). The Commissioner therefore gains defined discretion to establish and set the terms of the consultative body.

• Dispute resolution: Clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement (as modified by the Instrument) are expressly made a term or condition of employment and, for the purposes of s 738(d) of the FW Act, a dispute procedure term for dealing with disputes arising under the Instrument (see s 8(1)-(2)). That converts the Agreement’s dispute resolution step into an incorporated procedural right and obligation under the Instrument.

• Interaction with other determinations: Section 9 specifies the Instrument should operate, to the extent possible, concurrently with any determination made under subsection 24(1) of the PS Act and does not prevent such a determination from increasing monetary entitlements provided under this Instrument (see s 9(1)-(2)). That leaves open potential increases to salaries or allowances via other PS Act determinations.

• Preservation of NES: Section 10(1) affirms that the Instrument has no effect to the extent it would exclude the NES, preserving the statutory minimum entitlements for employees.

Rights and duties thus derive from a transplanted enterprise agreement, with specific clauses removed, substituted or reinterpreted. The Commissioner is given administrative authority to determine the form of consultative structures, and internal dispute-resolution procedure is incorporated as an enforceable term for FW Act purposes. The APS Award is set aside for Covered Employees while the Instrument is in force (see s 10(2)), altering the default industrial instrument that would otherwise apply.

The Instrument does not introduce any express civil or criminal penalties within its text. It is framed as a determination of terms and conditions of employment (see s 1, s 3) and contains no standalone sanctioning provisions. Enforcement therefore operates by reference to the employment framework the Instrument creates and to the external industrial law mechanisms to which it refers.

The Instrument incorporates dispute resolution as a term of employment, by treating clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement (as modified) as a term or condition of employment and, for the purposes of section 738(d) of the Fair Work Act 2009, as a term providing for a procedure for dealing with disputes (see s 8(1)-(2)). That incorporation means that internal procedural steps in those clauses apply to Covered Employees, and for FW Act purposes the clause is recognised as a dispute procedure term. The Instrument therefore signals that enforcement and remediation for workplace disputes will proceed in accordance with the incorporated procedures, which are part of the employment terms the Instrument creates.

The Instrument also engages the FW Act indirectly: it specifies that the Instrument ceases to apply to a Covered Employee when an enterprise agreement starts to apply to them (for FW Act purposes) or when a workplace determination is made covering them (see s 6(1)-(2)). Those FW Act processes have their own enforcement and compliance architectures, including the Fair Work Commission and remedies under the FW Act. The Instrument includes a note referencing s 276 of the FW Act for the start date of workplace determinations (see s 6 note), and it expressly references s 738(d) of the FW Act in relation to dispute resolution (see s 8).

There is no provision in the Instrument for administrative fines, monetary penalties, or criminal sanctions tied to breaches of the Instrument itself. The practical enforcement routes for failure to comply with the Instrument are therefore: internal dispute procedures incorporated into the terms of employment, industrial remedies available under the FW Act where the Instrument interfaces with that Act (including through enterprise agreement or workplace determination processes), and any remedies available under general employment law norms and the Public Service Act architecture. The Instrument does not specify who will monitor or audit compliance, nor does it establish a separate enforcement office. Those operational responsibilities will fall within the Commission’s managerial structures and the external industrial framework engaged by the FW Act and NES.

The Instrument’s omission of certain pay and payment-related clauses (for example clause 18.1 and clauses 20-21) changes the baseline entitlements that an enforcement action could seek to vindicate. Where an entitlement has been omitted from the applicable terms, enforcement mechanisms cannot be used to recover omitted benefits unless a separate legal basis exists. Conversely, the Instrument preserves the NES and does not displace enforcement related to NES entitlements (see s 10(1)).

The Instrument explicitly situates itself within the Public Service Act 1999, the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), the National Employment Standards (NES) and the Australian Public Service Enterprise Award 2015 (APS Award) framework. It is made under subsection 24(3) of the Public Service Act 1999 (see s 3). It references and aligns with FW Act processes by naming the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 as the source of terms for Covered Employees and by providing that the Instrument ceases when an enterprise agreement starts applying to the Covered Employee or when a workplace determination covers them, both for FW Act purposes (see s 6(1)-(2)). The Instrument signals that its lifespan and interaction with entitlements are pandemic on FW Act processes such as enterprise bargaining and workplace determinations.

Section 10(1) states that the Instrument has no effect to the extent it would exclude the NES. That language preserves the statutory minimum entitlements in Part 2-2 of the FW Act against any inconsistency, making the NES the floor that the Instrument cannot displace (see s 10(1)). Section 10(2) expressly provides that while the Instrument is in force, the APS Award does not apply to Covered Employees (see s 10(2)). The Instrument therefore replaces the APS Award as the operative industrial instrument for these employees while it remains in force.

The Instrument also incorporates FW Act machinery for dispute resolution recognition by stating that clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement (as modified) are terms of employment and, for FW Act purposes, a term providing a dispute procedure under s 738(d) of the FW Act (see s 8). That creates a direct link between the internal dispute steps of the Enterprise Agreement and the FW Act’s definition of a dispute resolution term.

Section 9 addresses interaction with other determinations under the Public Service Act 1999, requiring this Instrument to operate, to the extent possible, concurrently with any determination under subsection 24(1) of the PS Act, and clarifying that such subsection 24(1) determinations may increase salaries, allowances or other monetary entitlements provided under this Instrument without being prevented by it (see s 9(1)-(2)). That language leaves room for higher PS Act determinations to augment monetary terms.

A practical implication is that the Instrument functions as an agency-specific container for an enterprise agreement under the Public Service Act, but it does not displace or diminish statutory floors (NES) nor block enterprise bargaining or workplace determinations under the FW Act from changing the employment instrument applying to an individual. The note in s 4 about where the Enterprise Agreement could be viewed and the cross-reference to s 57 of the FW Act in the s 10 note explicitly treat the Enterprise Agreement as operating in the same manner as an enterprise agreement for the purposes of interaction with the APS Award and the FW Act.

In short, the Instrument co-opts an existing enterprise agreement for a new agency within the Public Service Act framework, preserves NES protections, displaces the APS Award for Covered Employees during its operation, and ties its duration for individual employees to FW Act processes, leaving open supplementation via separate PS Act determinations.

The Instrument itself records its enactment date and maker. It is dated 10 September 2024 and signed by Katy Gallagher, Minister for the Public Service (instrument header). Section 2 provides commencement: it commences the day after registration. Section 3 records authority: the Instrument is made under subsection 24(3) of the Public Service Act 1999. Those are the only historical or procedural markers internal to the Instrument.

There is no textual record within this Instrument of subsequent amendments, repeals or prior versions. The Instrument’s own mechanics amend the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 for the purposes of Covered Employees by operation of s 7(2), but those are operational amendments effected by this Instrument rather than recorded subsequent amendments of this Instrument itself. The Instrument does not set out a schedule of prior amendments to itself, and the text contains no clauses which purport to amend other determinations aside from instructing how the Enterprise Agreement is to be read for Covered Employees.

Functionally, s 7(2) lists several amendments to the Enterprise Agreement as applied to Covered Employees. These include textual substitutions (for example substituting references to the Secretary with the Commissioner and to the Department with the Commission at s 7(2)(2)-(6)), and explicit omissions of certain clauses of the Enterprise Agreement (for example Clause 4, Clauses 10-15, Clause 18.1, Clauses 20-21, Clauses 412-414 and Table 2, and Clause 452) as set out at s 7(2)(8)-(12) and s 7(2)(14). The Instrument replaces the Department’s Workplace Consultative Forum provisions with a Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee provision and removes references to the "Workplace Consultative Forum" in certain clauses (see s 7(2)(13)-(14)). Those are the substantive amendments effected by the Instrument to the incorporated enterprise agreement.

Section 9 also addresses concurrent operation with other determinations made under subsection 24(1) of the Public Service Act, and confirms those determinations may increase salaries, allowances or other monetary entitlements provided under this Instrument (see s 9(1)-(2)). That clause functions as an express provision recognising future amendment or augmentation possibilities via other PS Act instruments.

Because the Instrument is an implementing determination rather than an omnibus legislative instrument, its amendment history in the text is limited to the amendments it effects on the Enterprise Agreement and to the commencement/authority metadata. There is no recorded subsequent amendment to the Determination in the provided text.

The provided Instrument text contains no record of litigation, challenges, or judicial interpretation. There are no notes, schedules or appendices referencing court or tribunal decisions, nor is any litigation history set out in the body. The Instrument’s content is therefore free of any in-text litigation annotations or reported disputes.

The absence of litigation history in the instrument means that there is no authoritative case law in the text to interpret ambiguous provisions, such as the scope of the Commissioners’ discretion to establish and define the terms of the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee (s 7(2)(14) substitution), or questions about the operational effect of omitted clauses such as the individual flexibility arrangements (clauses 10-15 omitted, see s 7(2)(9)). Any legal controversy as to construction, procedural effect, or interaction with other instruments will therefore be untested in judicial or tribunal decisions within the Instrument’s own text.

Practically, disputes about application of the Instrument will be governed initially by the enterprise agreement provisions incorporated into the Instrument and by the dispute resolution procedure that the Instrument makes a condition of employment (clauses 444-451 as incorporated, see s 8). Secondary routes include industrial processes under the Fair Work Act 2009 and any remedies or administrative review processes available under the Public Service Act and other applicable statutes. The Instrument references the FW Act and NES, but it does not provide guidance on remedies, interpretations or precedent. Any contested interpretive issues,such as whether omission of clause 18.1 removes an expectation of a base salary increase from an administrative perspective or whether the omission of clauses 10-15 constrains contractual flexibility,will need to be resolved by application of statutory interpretation principles, the incorporated Agreement provisions, and possibly by tribunal or court determination outside the text.

Because there is no litigation history recorded in the Instrument, readers and practitioners should expect that questions of statutory and contractual interaction may lack settled authority specific to this Determination until a case or arbitral decision addresses them.

The Instrument makes several textual amendments and omissions whose practical consequences may be non-obvious. Below are concrete items to watch, grounded in the Instrument’s text.

1. Reliance on a specific prior version of the Enterprise Agreement. The Enterprise Agreement is defined as the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 "as in operation immediately before the commencement of this Instrument" (see s 4). That means the particular version incorporated is fixed to the state of that Agreement immediately prior to this Instrument. Subsequent amendments to the Department’s Enterprise Agreement after the Instrument’s commencement are not automatically imported unless expressly covered by a future instrument. Administrators should be careful to import the correct text version.

2. Omission of individual flexibility arrangements. Clauses 10-15 of the Enterprise Agreement, which set out procedures for individual flexibility arrangements, are expressly omitted (see s 7(2)(9)). The absence of those clauses may restrict the ability to vary terms at an individual level for Covered Employees in a way that had previously been available to Departmental employees under the full Agreement. Parties seeking to rely on individualised contractual adjustments should note this removal expressly in the text.

3. No automatic 4.0 per cent increase. Clause 18.1 of the Enterprise Agreement, which the Instrument indicates provided for a 4.0 per cent base salary increase from the first full pay period on or after 1 March 2024 (14 March 2024), is omitted (see s 7(2)(10)). If that clause was the mechanism driving a salary increase for employees, its omission means the Commission is not adopting that increase under this Instrument; pay practitioners must not assume the increase applies to Covered Employees as part of the Instrument.

4. Removal of pay protection/one-off payments. Clauses 20-21, which provided for one-off payments when an employee's salary was above the top of range pay point on commencement of the Enterprise Agreement, are omitted (see s 7(2)(11)). Employees who might have expected transitional payments by reference to those clauses will not have those entitlements via this Instrument.

5. Removal of remote locality assistance. Clauses 412-414 and Table 2, providing remote locality assistance to certain employees who were receiving such assistance on 1 May 2012, are omitted (see s 7(2)(12)). If a Covered Employee had previously received or expected such payments under the Departmental Agreement, the Instrument removes them for application to Covered Employees.

6. Consultative structures left to Commissioner discretion. The Workplace Consultative Forum provisions are removed and replaced with a Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee which the Commissioner may establish and which will operate subject to agreed terms of reference and structure for the term of the Determination, with representation in accordance with those terms of reference (see s 7(2)(13)-(14)). The Instrument does not set mandatory representational composition or minimum consultative obligations; the Commissioner has discretion to determine the terms of reference. The absence of prescribed representational rules is a practical gap to be filled administratively.

7. APS Award excluded while in force. The Instrument explicitly states that while it is in force, the APS Award does not apply to Covered Employees (see s 10(2)). That changes which industrial instrument governs Covered Employees and may affect entitlements that employees could otherwise have asserted under the APS Award.

8. Termination upon a new enterprise agreement or workplace determination. The Instrument ceases to apply to a Covered Employee if an enterprise agreement (for FW Act purposes) starts to apply to them or if a workplace determination covers them (see s 6(1)-(2)). Practitioners must monitor enterprise bargaining activity and workplace determinations to determine when the Instrument ceases to be the operative source of terms for particular employees.

9. Dispute procedure incorporated but without text in this Determination. The Instrument treats clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement as a term of employment and as a dispute procedure for s 738(d) purposes (see s 8). The Instrument does not reproduce the text of those clauses, meaning the specific steps and timeframes require reference back to the incorporated Enterprise Agreement text.

10. No penalties or enforcement mechanism set out. The Instrument contains no express sanctions for breaches of its terms (no penalty clauses). Enforcement must therefore proceed via the incorporated Agreement, the NES and FW Act mechanisms or other relevant statutory remedies. The absence of an enforcement provision is a practical consideration for managers and employee representatives.

These are concrete, text-based pitfalls that parties must identify and address administratively when implementing and advising on the Instrument.

For employers (the Commissioner and the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission)

1. Apply the specified Enterprise Agreement text. The Commission must treat the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 "as in operation immediately before the commencement of this Instrument" as the operative agreement for Covered Employees, subject to the textual substitutions and omissions in s 7(2). Ensure the HR and legal teams have the correct pre-commencement version of the Enterprise Agreement and prepare an annotated version showing all substitutions (for example, "Secretary" to "Commissioner", "Department" to "Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission") and deletions listed at s 7(2)(1)-(14).

2. Update contracts, policies and administrative references. Amend employment contracts, offer letters, classification statements, staff policies and procedural documents so that references align with the Instrument's substitutions (see s 7(2)(1)-(7)). That includes changing organisational references from Department of Social Services to Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission and from Secretary to Commissioner, to avoid inconsistent documentation.

3. Remove or implement the omitted entitlements. Ensure payroll and entitlements systems are adjusted to reflect the omission of clause 18.1 (the 4.0 per cent base salary increase noted in the Enterprise Agreement), clauses 20-21 (one-off payments), clauses 412-414 and Table 2 (remote locality assistance) and clause 452 (maintenance of certain disputes) (see s 7(2)(10)-(12), (14)). Do not apply those payments to Covered Employees unless there is a separate legal basis for doing so.

4. Confirm inability to use removed individual flexibility clauses. Because clauses 10-15 (individual flexibility arrangements) are omitted for Covered Employees (see s 7(2)(9)), do not offer or rely on those specific Agreement mechanisms to vary terms for Covered Employees. If the Commission wishes to use alternative flexibility mechanisms, do so through properly drafted instruments or separate lawful agreements consistent with the Public Service Act and the FW Act, noting the Instrument’s explicit omission.

5. Establish consultative committee if required. The Instrument permits the Commissioner to establish a Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission Consultative Committee to discuss relevant workplace matters, subject to agreed terms of reference and structure for the Determination’s term, with representation in accordance with the terms of reference (see s 7(2)(14) substitution text). If the Commissioner wishes to preserve a forum for workplace consultation, create and publish terms of reference and membership arrangements to provide clarity on representational rights and meeting cadence.

6. Implement dispute procedure. Incorporate and publish the Procedure for dealing with disputes: clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement are a term of employment and, for FW Act s 738(d) purposes, a dispute-procedure term (see s 8). Ensure employees have access to, and are informed about, the dispute procedure and maintain records of any disputes and steps taken under those clauses.

7. Preserve NES entitlements. The Instrument has no effect to the extent it would exclude the NES (see s 10(1)). Ensure that NES entitlements are not diminished in practice and that payroll and rostering arrangements continue to respect NES minimums.

8. Monitor enterprise bargaining and workplace determinations. The Instrument ceases to apply to a Covered Employee when an enterprise agreement starts to apply to them or when a workplace determination covers them (see s 6). Maintain monitoring of enterprise bargaining outcomes and Fair Work Commission determinations to identify the date when this Instrument ceases to be operative for any employee.

9. Recordkeeping and communications. Document the Instrument’s implementation steps, administrative changes and employee communications to provide an audit trail should disputes arise. Provide employees with the amended Agreement text and a plain-language summary showing the specific differences from the Departmental Enterprise Agreement.

For employees and their representatives

1. Read the incorporated Enterprise Agreement text as amended. Review the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 as in operation immediately before commencement, with attention to clauses retained and clauses expressly omitted or substituted under s 7(2).

2. Check for omitted entitlements. Do not assume the presence of individual flexibility arrangements, a 4 per cent increase, one-off payments, or remote locality assistance - those clauses are omitted for Covered Employees under s 7(2).

3. Use the incorporated dispute procedure. If a workplace dispute arises, follow clauses 444-451 of the Enterprise Agreement as incorporated into the terms of employment; those clauses are a procedural term for the purposes of s 738(d) of the FW Act (see s 8).

4. Monitor for superseding instruments. Be aware that the Instrument ceases for an individual when an enterprise agreement starts to apply to them or when a workplace determination covers them (see s 6). Participation in enterprise bargaining or awareness of workplace determinations will determine when alternative terms may begin to apply.

5. Clarify consultative representation. The consultative committee is to operate subject to agreed terms of reference and representation in accordance with those terms (see s 7(2)(14)). Engage with employer processes to secure representation if a consultative committee is established.

Administrative and compliance checklist

• Obtain the precise pre-commencement text of the Department of Social Services Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027.
• Produce an annotated Agreement showing substitutions and omissions listed in s 7(2).
• Amend HR templates, contracts and public-facing materials to reflect the Commission and Commissioner references.
• Adjust payroll to reflect omission of pay-related clauses and removal of remote locality assistance.
• Publish the incorporated dispute-resolution clauses and provide training on the steps required.
• Prepare terms of reference for any consultative committee and communicate representational arrangements.
• Track enterprise bargaining outcomes and Fair Work Commission decisions that may trigger cessation of the Instrument for individual employees (s 6).
• Ensure all arrangements comply with the NES, which the Instrument cannot exclude (s 10(1)).

Following these text-grounded steps will align practices with the Instrument’s mechanical requirements and reduce the risk of inconsistent application.