WORKPLACE RELATIONS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1) 2002 NO. 71

Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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WORKPLACE RELATIONS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1) 2002 NO. 71

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Statutory Rules 2002 No. 71

(Issued by the authority of the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations)

Workplace Relations Act 1996

Workplace Relations Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 1)

Section 359 of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Section 352 of the Act provides that the employer of an employee engaged in Commonwealth employment can only act for the purposes of the Act (ie notify disputes, enter agreements etc) through an employing authority acting on behalf of the employer. Section 4 of the Act provides that 'employing authority', in relation to a class of employees, means the 'person or body, or each of the persons or bodies, prescribed as the employing authority in relation to the class of employees'.

Schedule 2 to the Workplace Relations Regulations 1996 (the Principal Regulations) sets out the persons or bodies prescribed as an 'employing authority' for various classes of public sector employment.

The main purpose of the Regulations is to make various changes to Schedule 2 of the Principal Regulations to reflect changes made by the Public Service Act 1999 and the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 and to reflect Government policy of devolving responsibility for employment matters to Agency Heads.

The Regulations also amend the Principal Regulations to reflect new terminology made by the Public Service Act 1999 and the Parliamentary Service Act 1999.

The effect of the Regulations is to:

• amend regulation 4, which prescribes classes of persons for the purposes of the definition of 'public sector employment' in the Workplace Relations Act 1996, to reflect changes in terminology made by the Public Service Act 1999;

• amend Schedule 2, which prescribes persons and bodies for the purposes of the definition of 'employing authority' in the Workplace Relations Act 1996, to reflect changes made by the Public Service Act 1999 and the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 and to reflect Government policy of devolving responsibility for employment matters to Agency Heads;

• amend the Principal Regulations so that 'an APS employee or Parliamentary Service Employee' replaces all references to 'an officer of the Australian Public Service', and 'an SES employee as defined in section 34 of the Public Service Act 1999' replaces 'a Senior Executive Service officer of the Australian Public Service' in regulation 8C; and

• amend the Principal Regulations to update references to the portfolio Minister and the Department.

Details of the Regulations are in the attachment.

The Regulations commence on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

WORKPLACE RELATIONS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (No. 1)

Regulation 1

This regulation sets out the name of the Regulations.

Regulation 2

This regulation provides for the commencement of the Regulations on gazettal.

Regulation 3

This is a formal provision, to provide that Schedule 1 amends the Workplace Relations Regulations 1996.

Schedule 1 - Amendments

Item 1 Regulation 2, after definition of the Act

This item inserts a new definition of Workplace Relations Minister. The Principal Regulations on their face previously referred to the Minister by outdated titles such as 'Minister of State for Industrial Relations'. Orders under the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 have had the effect of updating these references for all intents and purposes, but a new term was needed for new references to the Minister inserted by these Regulations. The opportunity has therefore been taken to update existing references to the Minister. The new definitional term will be used for all references to the portfolio Minister (except in forms, where the Minister's current title is used in full).

Item 2 Paragraph 4(2)(d)

This item amends the existing regulation, which prescribes the classes of persons for the purposes of the definition of 'public sector employment' in the Workplace Relations Act 1996, to clarify its ambit and reflect changes in terminology made by the Public Service Act 1999. An example is added to provide clarification of the intent of the new paragraph.

Item 3 Paragraph 7(c)

The effect of this item is twofold.

Firstly, it replaces a reference to the 'Minister of State for Industrial Relations' with the new expression Workplace Relations Minister'. The latter expression is defined in regulation 2 (see note to item 1 above).

Secondly, to reflect changes in terminology made by the Public Service Act 1999 and Parliamentary Service Act 1999, 'an APS employee or Parliamentary Service employee' replaces the reference to 'an officer of the Australian Public Service'.

Item 4 Subregulation 8D(2), definition of authorised person, subparagraph (b)(iii)

This item replaces a reference to the 'Minister for Industrial Relations' with the new expression 'Workplace Relations Minister'. The latter expression is defined in regulation 2 (see note to item 1 above).

Item 5 Subregulation 30ZM(2), definition of authorised person, subparagraph (b)(iii)

Item 6 Regulation 137

This item replaces a reference to the portfolio Department as 'Department of Industrial Relations' with a reference to the Department's current title, 'Department of Employment and Workplace Relations'.

Item 7 Schedule 1, form 1

This item amends the Form for inspectors' identity cards to replace references to the portfolio Minister as 'Minister of State for Industrial Relations' with references to the Minister's current title, 'Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations'.

Item 8 Schedule 2, item 1

This item replaces references to the 'Minister of State for Industrial Relations' with the new expression 'Workplace Relations Minister'. The latter expression is defined in regulation 2 (see note to item 1 above).

Item 9 Schedule 2, items 3 and 4

This item replaces existing items 3 and 4 in Schedule 2 to effect a number of changes:

• the existing descriptions of the classes of employees in column 2 of items 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 are replaced with new descriptions that rely upon the Public Service Act 1999 and the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 rather than the Public Service Act 1922. Although differently described, the classes of employees remain the same (that is, the new descriptions do not expand or contract the classes of employees covered);

• the expression 'The Minister administering the Department' changes to 'The Agency Minister within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999' in column 3 of item 3, to reflect changes made by the Public Service Act 1999;

• 'The Agency Head within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999' is prescribed as an employing authority in column 3 of item 3. This change reflects Government policy of devolving responsibility for employment matters to Agency Heads;

• the reference to the 'Minister of State for Industrial Relations' in column 3 of item 3 is replaced with a new expression 'Workplace Relations Minister'. The latter expression is defined in regulation 2 (see note to item 1 above);

• in column 3 of item 4, the existing terms 'The President of the Senate' and 'The Speaker of the House of Representatives' are replaced with 'A Presiding Officer within the meaning of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999', which encompasses the President and the Speaker; and

• also in column 3 of item 4, the expression 'The Secretary within the meaning of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999' is added as a prescribed employing authority. Again, this is consistent with Government policy to devolve responsibility for employment matters to Agency Heads.

Item 10 Further amendments

To reflect changes in terminology made by the Public Service Act 1999 and Parliamentary Service Act 1999, 'an APS employee or Parliamentary Service employee' replaces various references to 'an officer of the Australian Public Service', and 'an SES employee as defined in section 34 of the Public Service Act 1999' replaces 'a Senior Executive Service officer of the Australian Public Service' in regulation 8C.