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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