ACIRRT | Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training |
Act | Workplace Relations Act 1996 |
ACTU | Australian Council of Trade Unions |
AIR | Australian Industrial Registry |
AIRC | Australian Industrial Relations Commission |
ANAO | Australian National Audit Office |
APS | Australian Public Service |
AWA | Australian workplace agreement |
CAR | Commonwealth Arbitration Report |
CBA | Commonwealth Bank of Australia |
CLR | Commonwealth Law Report |
CMS | Case Management System |
Commission | Australian Industrial Relations Commission |
CPSU | The Community and Public Sector Union |
DEWRSB | Federal Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business |
DIR | Deputy Industrial Registrar |
email | electronic mail system |
FMA Act | Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 |
FMIS | financial management information system |
FSU | Finance Sector Union of Australia |
GST | goods and services tax |
HSR | health and safety representative |
ILO | International Labor Organisation |
IMTT | Information Management and Technology Team |
IR | industrial reports |
IR Act | Industrial Relations Act 1988 |
IT | information technology |
LAN | local area network |
LHMU | Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union |
OHS | occupational health and safety |
OHS Act | Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 |
OSIRIS | Australian industrial relations information site |
PPT | People and Planning Team |
PSMPC | Public Sector and Merit Protection Commission |
RCC | Registry Consultative Committee |
Registry | Australian Industrial Registry |
Registry Agreement | Australian Industrial Registry (New Directions) Agreement 2000 |
RIAT | Research, Information and Advice Team |
RMT | Resource Management Team |
s. | section of an Act |
ss. | sections of an Act |
SES | senior executive service |
TIC | Tasmanian Industrial Commission |
VST | Victoria Service Team |
WR Act | Workplace Relations Act 1996 |
WROLA Act | Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996 |
AIR Bulletin | Weekly publication produced by the AIR; includes details of procedural changes and developments in the Registry, advice regarding the rights and obligations of organisations registered under the Act and weekly decisions summaries. |
Allowable matters | Those matters subject of the relationship between an employer and employees which are considered appropriate for inclusion in federal minimum rates awards. The matters deemed allowable are prescribed by section 89A of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. From 1 July 1998 the Act required that all awards be simplified to the defined set of 20 allowable matters. Matters outside the 20 (except for those matters deemed by the AIRC to be necessary to the operation of the award) are not enforceable after that date. |
Arbitration | Process whereby an independent body or person determines a grievance or dispute by imposing a binding settlement. In industrial arbitration a tribunal with legal authority may have powers of compulsory arbitration as well as offering voluntary arbitration. |
Associate | Commission Member’s support staff/personal assistant. |
Auscript | Responsible for providing court recording and transcription services to the AIRC/AIR. |
AusInfo | Federal authority (under the Department of Finance and Administration) responsible for the distribution of government reports, legislation and information. |
Australian Industrial Registry (AIR) | The body that acts as the registry for the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), provides administrative support to the AIRC, keeps a register of organisations and publishes decisions, orders and awards of the Commission. |
Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) | Exercises a range of powers under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 in relation to ensuring the establishment and maintenance of fair minimum wages and conditions of employment, preventing and settling industrial disputes, facilitating agreement making between employers and employees, conciliating and arbitrating claims in relation to unfair dismissal and dealing with matters concerning industrial organisations. |
Australian workplace agreement (AWA) | An individual, legally enforceable agreement between an employer and employee about the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. AWAs must meet a no-disadvantage test (see below) and be approved by the Employment Advocate. |
Award simplification | The process by which federal awards are reviewed so that they contain only the prescribed 20 allowable matters (see above) and meet certain other legislative criteria. Any matters not contained in the allowable matters are a matter for agreement between employers and employees at the workplace level. |
Awards | Documents that set out the minimum wages and conditions of employees. In some cases awards cover a specific issue such as superannuation or long service leave. The AIRC oversees federal awards, while State industrial tribunals are responsible for State awards. Sometimes, both federal and State awards can apply to the one workplace, although to different classifications of employees. |
‘B’ or ‘BOR’ matters | Matters dealt with by a Board of Reference. |
Board of Reference | Board consisting of two or more persons appointed by the Commission for the purpose of dealing with a matter or matters under an award. May consist of or include a Commissioner. |
BOBBY | (trade name/software) A free service to help web page authors identify and repair significant barriers to access by individuals with disabilities. |
‘C’ matters | Matters dealt with by the Commission (other than ‘B’, ‘BOR’, ‘D’ and ‘U’ matters) including among others, such matters as notification of industrial disputes, applications to vary an award, applications for certification of agreement, notification of initiation of bargaining period and appeals to a Full Bench. |
Casual employment | Casual employees work on an as-required basis and generally receive a loading on their pay in lieu of certain employment conditions such as paid annual leave and sick leave. |
Certified agreement(CA) | A collective agreement covering wages and conditions that can be made directly between an employer and a group of employees or between an employer and a union or unions representing a group of employees. |
Common rule | In the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory ‘common rule’ awards can apply to all employees in a particular industry whether or not their employers are named in the award. |
Conciliation | The process by which an independent body attempts to facilitate the resolution of a grievance or dispute by assisting the parties to reach and accept a solution by mutual, voluntary agreement. |
‘D’ matters | Matters heard by a designated Presidential Member including such matters as applications for registration of amalgamation of organisations and change to eligibility rules of an organisation. |
Decisions summaries | Summaries of federal and State industrial judgments, including industrial judgments of the High Court and Federal Court of Australia. |
Designated Presidential Member | A Member of the Organisations Panel. |
Discrimination – direct and indirect | Direct discrimination occurs when someone is treated unfairly or less favourably in the same or similar circumstances because, for example, of their gender or race.
Indirect discrimination occurs when there is a rule, policy, practice or procedure that is the same for everyone, but has an unequal or disproportionate effect for a specific group of people. |
Dragonware | (trade name) Voice recognition software. |
Employment Advocate | A Commonwealth Government agency which assesses and approves AWAs as well as providing assistance and advice to employees and employers about their rights and obligations in relation to AWAs. The Office of the Employment Advocate also has certain powers in relation to alleged contraventions of freedom of association provisions. |
Federal minimum wage | The federal minimum wage is the weekly rate of pay below which no full-time adult employee working under a federal award is to be paid. The rate is set by the AIRC and a proportionate amount applies for junior, part-time and casual employees. |
Full Bench | A Full Bench of the AIRC is convened by the President and comprises at least three Members, two of whom must be Presidential Members. Full Benches are convened to hear appeals, matters of significant national interest, test cases and various other matters specifically provided for in the Act. |
Freedom of association | The freedom of association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 prohibit victimisation or discrimination on various grounds, including a person’s membership or non-membership of an industrial association, or the exercise of a person’s rights under industrial laws. The provisions abolish preference in employment and compulsory unionism. |
Industry sectors | Documents stating the minimum wage entitlements of Victorian employees not covered by a federal award (see Schedule 1A below.) An industry sector applies to a particular industry in which an employer in Victoria is mainly engaged and incorporates such things as coverage, work classifications and minimum wages. |
ISYS Web | (trade name) A full-text retrieval program available on the Commission’s web site to search awards, decisions, transcripts, the Workplace Relations Act & Regulations and AIRC Rules by single words, phrases or linked phrases and words. |
Log of claims | A list of demands sent by a union to one or more employers demanding particular pay and conditions. It is the first step in the creation of an industrial dispute within the AIRC’s jurisdiction. The process of settling the dispute may result in the making or varying of an award. |
Member | A Member of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. |
Minimum wageorders | Orders periodically issued by the Commission adjusting minimum wage rates for employees in Victoria not subject to a federal award, certified agreement or AWA. The orders are issued within the framework of industry sectors. |
MS Word | (trade name) Microsoft Word, word processing software. |
‘No disadvantage’ test – for certified agreements and AWAs | The AIRC is required to apply a ‘no disadvantage test’ to ensure that when considered as a whole a certified agreement is no less favourable to employees than the relevant award(s) and laws. The Employment Advocate, and in some cases also the AIRC, is required to apply a similar test in assessing AWAs. |
OSIRIS | Web site maintained by DEWRSB featuring the full text of Australian federal awards, agreements, decisions, variations and decisions summaries of the AIRC. (http://www.osiris.gov.au) |
Panel system | System by which the work of the AIRC is administered. In general, each panel has a Panel Head (who is a Presidential Member) and at least one Commissioner and is responsible for work in a number of set industries. The President determines the composition of the panels. There is also an Organisations Panel which deals with work relating to registered employee and employer organisations and a Termination of Employment Panel. |
Parental leave | Term encompassing maternity leave, paternity leave and adoption leave. It is usually unpaid. |
Party | An applicant or respondent, or representative of same, to a proceeding before the AIRC. |
Pay As You Earn (PAYE) | PAYE or Pay As You Earn is an instalment tax paying system where employers deduct tax from salary and wages of employees and remit them to the Tax Office. |
Personal/carers’ leave | Combines entitlements to sick leave, carers’ leave and bereavement leave into one entitlement. |
Practice Note | Practice Notes are statements issued from time to time by the President dealing with procedural matters concerning the conduct of Commission matters. These Notes do not purport to set out the requirements of the Act, Regulations or Commission Rules. |
Prescribed Payments System (PPS) | PPS or Prescribed Payments System is a way for many people who work and earn money under contract to pay their tax by instalments throughout the year. |
Presidential Member | The President, a Vice President, a Senior Deputy President or a Deputy President of the AIRC. |
Probationary period | An agreed trial period for a new employee, during which dismissal of the employee may be exempt from the federal termination of employment provisions. |
Registration as an industrial organisation | Process by which employee and employer organisations formally register as industrial organisations. Registration under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 confers certain rights and obligations including the right to appear before the Commission and the obligation to report to the Registry on certain financial matters. |
Respondent | A legal term used to describe an employer who is bound by a federal award. The term is also used to refer to a party to a proceeding initiated by someone else. |
Right of entry | The legal right of departmental officers and union officials to enter business premises for purposes as described in the Workplace Relations Act 1996. |
Safety Net Review | The Safety Net Review, or national wage case, adjusts the minimum wage rates in federal awards. It is essentially a test case and any adjustment awarded is flowed on to other federal awards by application. The decision in such a case may also involve changes to the Commission’s wage-fixing principles known as the Statement of Principles. |
Schedule 1A | The part of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 that sets out the terms and conditions of Victorian employees who are not covered by a federal award (see industry sectors and minimum wage orders above). |
Serious misconduct | Conduct by an employee justifying summary dismissal by the employer. |
Statement of Principles | Wage-fixing principles established by a Full Bench of the Commission in the Safety Net Review case. |
Supported Wage System | The supported wage system facilitates the employment of workers with disabilities in open employment at a rate of pay commensurate with the employee’s assessed productive capacity. |
Termination of employment | Subject to certain exclusions, employees can apply to the Commission to deal with claims for unfair dismissal (harsh, unjust or unreasonable) or unlawful termination (discriminatory grounds) by conciliation. If conciliation does not resolve the matter and the applicant elects to continue with an unfair dismissal claim, the Commission will arbitrate. Unresolved unlawful termination claims can be pursued in the Federal Court of Australia. |
‘U’ matters | Applications lodged under s.170CE of the Act. |
Unified Messenger | (trade name) Software enabling voice messages and facsimiles to be accessed via email and mobile telephones. |
Victorian Industrial Relations Taskforce | Independent body appointed by the Victorian Government in April 2000 to inquire into the Victorian industrial relations system. Reported to the Victorian Minister for Industrial Relations on 31 August 2000. |
Windows | (trade name) Microsoft Windows software. |
Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WR Act) | Principal Commonwealth law governing the operations of the Commission and the Registry. |
