14.
35 Between 14 December 2005 and 27 March 2006, the new Act included Pt VIAAA, which sought to render of no effect an obligation contained in any State law, State award, State authority order or Territory law requiring a "relevant employer" with fewer than 15 employees to pay redundancy pay. In the case of a State law or award or authority order "relevant employer" meant a constitutional corporation. In the case of a Territory law, it meant any employer. Although the provision was repealed on 27 March 2006, it could have affected persons before its repeal, and its validity was challenged.
36 It is necessary now to refer to certain Schedules. That which was the subject of most argument is Sched 1, headed "Registration and Accountability of Organisations". Much of the substantive content of this Schedule was in the previous Act, but under the previous Act the constitutional basis for the regulation of organisations of employers and employees was s 51(xxxv)[1]. The basis has now changed, even though the scheme of regulation remains, in large part, substantially the same.
37 Schedule 1 provides for the registration and regulation of organisations of employees and employers. It is unnecessary for present purposes to go into the detail of the regulation. The provisions relating to registration are central to the scheme. The associations which may apply for registration under the new Act are those which are "federally registrable". An association of employers is federally registrable either if it is a constitutional corporation or if the majority of its members are "federal system employers". Federal system employers include constitutional corporations, employers in relation to "public sector employment", employers in Victoria, or employers in relation to an enterprise that operates principally from or within a Territory, or is engaged principally in interstate trade or commerce. Federally registrable employee associations are those which are constitutional corporations or which have as a majority of their members "federal system employees". Federal system employees are persons employed by constitutional corporations, or employed in public sector employment, or employed in Victoria, or in certain kinds of enterprise including those which operate principally from or within a Territory or are engaged principally in interstate trade and commerce.
38 Federally registrable enterprise associations include constitutional corporations and associations the majority of whose members are federal system
- ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine, No Liability v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309.