Bills Digest no. 5 1976
Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill (No. 2)
1976
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Implications
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Conciliation and Arbitration
Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1976
Date introduced: 21 October
1976
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Health and Ageing
Commencement: On the day of Royal Assent
Short Digest of Bill
Purpose
The purpose of the Bill is to give
statutory approval to the use of a collegiate electoral system in
elections for officials of trade unions and employer organizations
as an alternative to a direct voting system. The system used will
depend on the rules of the organization concerned.
Background and legislative history
Section 133 of the Conciliation
and Arbitration Act 1904 sets out various matters relating to
elections which must be contained in the rules of organizations
(trade unions and employer organizations) which are registered
under the Act.
Before 1973 there was no specific
requirement that any form of voting system be used; the most
important requirement was that elections for certain offices be by
secret ballot.
During 1973 the section was
amended(1) to introduce a requirement that elections for
all offices must be by a voting system at which all financial
members of the organization or branch were eligible to vote
(section 133 (i) (a)); an exception was made for certain part-time
officers who could continue to be elected by a system under which a
direct vote of members elects a college of delegates who vote to
fill the position from among their number, if provision for this
kind of election was already contained in the rules of the
organization (section 133 (1A)).
There was also an amendment to
section 4 of the Act whereby the concept of office was enlarged
with the result that all positions were to be filled by an election
in accordance with section 133.
The Minister for Labour (Mr. Clyde
Cameron) announced in his Second Reading Speech on the Bill that
this policy of requiring a direct vote of the membership for all
full-time officials but permitting a collegiate electoral system
for some part-time officials was arrived at after discussion at the
A.L.P. Conference in 1973.(2) A Bill introduced earlier
in 1973 and rejected by the Senate had contained provision for a
direct voting system which was compulsory for elections of
part-time officials but not for elections of full-time
officials.
The new requirements applied
immediately to all bodies seeking registration. Organizations
already registered whose rules did not comply with these
requirements were given a period of three years to alter their
rules (section 133 (4A)). This period expires on 13 November
1976.
Since 1973 there have been no
alterations to the requirements of section 133 in relation to the
type of voting system to be used. Section 133 was amended earlier
this year to introduce a requirement that all bodies seeking
registration have rules requiring secret postal ballots for most
elections; organizations already registered are also to have secret
postal ballot for these elections by virtue of section 133
AA.(3)
Amendments made by the Bill
The main amendment made by the Bill
is to section 133 (1) (a) (clause 4 (a)). The proposed amendment
requires the rules of an organization to provide for elections of
full-time officials either by a direct voting system or a one-tier
collegiate electoral system; part-time offices may also be filled
by a multi-tier collegiate electoral system. There are amendments
to section 4 of the Act to define direct voting system , collegiate
electoral system and one-tier collegiate electoral system (clause 3
(a) and (c)).
Organizations whose rules would have
been subject to alteration by the Industrial Registrar after 13
November 1976 may now continue with their existing rules. Some
organizations whose rules currently per a full-time office to be
filled by a multi-tier collegiate electoral system are given a
period of two years, or longer if the Industrial Registrar permits,
to comply with the new requirements; if they fail to do so, the
usual provision for consultation and alteration by the Industrial
Registrar will apply (new section 133 (3) and (4) as substituted by
clause 4 (c)).
Section 133 (1A) which currently
permits a one-tier collegiate electoral system for part-time
offices is now redundant and is repealed (clause 4 (b)). There are
also consequential amendments to the existing transitional
provisions in section 133.
Another amendment made by the Bill is
to the definition of office in section 4 (clause 3 (b)), with the
result that not all positions will be filled by an election;
however members of the committee of management, all executive
officers, trustees and members of rule-making bodies will still be
required to be elected and a direct vote of the membership by
secret postal ballot will be included in some stage of the election
process.
Implications
The issue of direct voting versus
collegiate elections is a controversial one with both sides
claiming that the system they favour is the more democratic. The
Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the
Federated Clerks Union of Australia have publicly attacked each
other over the issue.(4)
The Minister for Employment and
Industrial Relations, Mr. Street, in his Second Reading Speech on
the Bill, points out that where branches of an organization are
unequal in size, a direct vote for all positions may be less fair
to the smaller branches than a collegiate system. He also points
out that greater democracy will not be attained by a collegiate
system unless the elected college is truly representative , but he
believes that section 140 (1) (c) of the Act gives adequate
protection to permit an alteration to the rules of any organization
which are unreasonable, oppressive and unjust having regard to the
purposes of the Act; and that regulation 115 of the Conciliation
and Arbitration Regulations, dealing with conditions of
registration, also gives protection against unrepresentative
colleges.
Endnotes
- Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1973 (Act No. 138 of
1973).
- Hansard, H. of R. 30 August 1973 p. 663.
- Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act 1976 (Act No. 64 of
1976).
- Advertisements in the Australian on 7 and 8 April 1976.
Law and Government Group
29 October 1976
Bills Digest Service
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