Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS (CHRISTMAS ISLAND) REGULATIONS 1992 NO. 225

Statutory Rules 1992 No. 225

(Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industrial Relations)

Industrial Relations Act 198

Industrial Relations (Christmas Island) Regulations

Section 359 of the Industrial Relations Act 1989 (the Act) provides that the GovernorGeneral may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Subsection 7(1) extends the provisions of the Act to Christmas Island (the Island). Subsection 7(2) permits regulations to be made prescribing modifications of the Act in its application to the Island. Section 7 commenced by Proclamation on 1 July 1992.

The proclamation followed enactment of section 6 of the Territories Law Reform Act 1992 (the Territories Act) which extends Commonwealth legislation to Christmas Island with effect from 1 July 1992. Subsection 8C(3) of the Territories Act expressly preserves the operation of section 7 of the Act.

Following commencement of section 7 it has been necessary to make regulations to prescribe modifications to the Act in its application to the Island.

The regulations are expressed to commence on the day on which the Territories Act commences. This was 1 July 1992 (section 2 of the Territories Act so provides).

The regulations have been made under section 4 of the Acts Interpretation 1901. Section 4 authorises the making of regulations under an Act before the provision containing the regulation making power in the relevant Act comes into effect. Regulations made in those circumstances commence on the same day as the provision authorising the making of regulations.

The modifications are contained in a Schedule to regulation 4 of the proposed Regulations. A brief summary of the Regulations follows.

A new section 153A has been added to provide that an industrial award which was in force under the Island's Industrial Relations Ordinance prior to commencement of the Territories Act is to be taken to be an award under the Act.

Section 191 of the Act provides for a number of procedural matters in relation to registration of employee organisations. This section has been modified to provide that the Union of Christmas Island Workers (the Union) is to be taken to be a registered organisation, for the purposes of the Act, up to and including 30 June 1995.

Sections 193 and 193A of the Act provide for a review procedure of small registered organisations, to be undertaken by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The sections have been modified to exclude the Union from this review process.

Division 2 of Part IX of the Act, comprising sections 194 to 207, concerns the rules of registered organisations. For the first 12 months under the Act, the Union is to be exempt from most of the requirements of that Division.

All the provisions of that Division requiring particular matters to be included in the rules are excluded for the first twelve months. Three requirements remain: the rules must not prevent members observing the law (paragraph 196(b)), they must not impose obligations that are oppressive, unreasonable or unjust (paragraph 196(c)), and any changes to a union's name or to its eligibility will require the approval of the Australian industrial Relations Commission (section 204).

The Act is further modified by adding to this Division new sections 207A, 207B and 207C.

Section 207A provides that the provisions of Division IX, with the exception of paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 196 and section 204 do not apply to the Union, before 1 July 1993.

Section 207B requires the Union to lodge its rules with the Industrial Registry.

Section 207C requires that the Union also lodge with the Industrial Registrar alteration of its rules, made before 1 July 1993. Alterations made after 1 July 1993 will be governed by Division 2 of Part IX of the act, so the new section 207C does not apply to alterations made after that date.