The "three certified agreements case" was a decision of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission

Australian Industrial Relations Commission

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, or AIRC , was a tribunal with powers under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. It was the central institution of Australian labour law...

. The case resolved the confusion created by the High Court

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

's decision of Electrolux v AWU

Electrolux v AWU

The case of Electrolux v The Australian Workers' Union was a High Court of Australia decision of 2004.-The Background to the Case:The case dealt with whether bargaining agent's fees were able to be placed within an enterprise bargaining agreement as created by the Workplace Relations Act ...

.

Name of the case

The "three certified agreements case" (A.K.A.: "In Re Schefenacker" / "The Australian Nursing Federation and the Rural City of Murray Bridge") was a case which combined appeals from single Commissioners decisions not to certify enterprise agreements as they believed that the agreements contained clauses that did not pertain to the relationship between employer and employee. The three agreements were:

• The Murray Bridge Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
• The Schefenacker Vision Systems Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
• The La Trobe University Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

(There has been confusion about how to name the case as it was a combined appeal which is uncommon. It has often been named "The Australian Nursing Federation and the City of Murray Bridge" it has also often been named "Schefenacker" or "in re Schefenacker" to this date no name appears to have been universally adopted.)

Background to the case

The decision was necessary to clarify the High Court

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

's decision of Electrolux

Electrolux v AWU

The case of Electrolux v The Australian Workers' Union was a High Court of Australia decision of 2004.-The Background to the Case:The case dealt with whether bargaining agent's fees were able to be placed within an enterprise bargaining agreement as created by the Workplace Relations Act ...

. The aftermath of the Electrolux decision was that a huge degree of uncertainty existed around what could be placed into enterprise bargaining agreement

Enterprise bargaining agreement

Enterprise bargaining is wage and working conditions being negotiated at the level of the individual organisations. Once established, they are legally binding on employers and employees....

s.

Significance of the case

The decision was handed down on the 21 March 2005.The case got major attention around Australia at the time. It was one of the longest awaited decisions in industrial relations law as industrial relations professionals had awaited clarification of the Electrolux

Electrolux v AWU

The case of Electrolux v The Australian Workers' Union was a High Court of Australia decision of 2004.-The Background to the Case:The case dealt with whether bargaining agent's fees were able to be placed within an enterprise bargaining agreement as created by the Workplace Relations Act ...

 decision of the High Court of Australia

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

 for over five months. http://www.findlaw.com.au/article/13252.htm It is commonly regarded as the final landmark decision of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. (That is before its wage setting, award formation and agreement certification powers were removed from it by the WorkChoices

WorkChoices

The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...

 reform in 2006.)

Decision in the case

The case dealt with whether a large number of union friendly provisions, including:

• union training leave
• the recognition of delegates
• right of entry
• salary sacrifice
• use of labour hire (and setting or terms of conditions for labor hire).

The case decided that these matters (in certain forms) could be included into enterprise agreements (and it would have followed awards). It was generally accepted as a major union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

victory.
http://www.airc.gov.au/fullbench/PR956575.htm