28th Nov 2019, 4:34 PM – Senate Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2019 - in Committee - Greens amendments

The majority voted against amendments introduced by the Australian Greens, which means they failed.

Motion text

(1) Amendment (9), item 11, paragraph 223(1)(a), omit "a designated finding within the meaning of paragraph 9C(1)(a) (criminal) is made", substitute "2 or more designated findings within the meaning of paragraph 9C(1)(a) (criminal) are made".

(2) Amendment (9), item 11, omit subparagraph 223(1)(b)(i), substitute:

(i) 2 or more designated findings within the meaning of paragraph 9C(1)(b) (civil) have been made against any organisation within the last 7 years in relation to conduct engaged in while the person is an officer of the organisation; and

(3) Amendment (9), item 11, subparagraph 223(1)(b)(ii), omit "least 180 penalty units", substitute "least 210 penalty units".

(4) Amendment (11), item 11, omit paragraph 223(3A)(a), substitute:

(a) 2 or more designated findings within the meaning of paragraph 9C(1)(b) (civil) have been made against any organisation within the last 7 years in relation to conduct engaged in while the person is an officer of the organisation; and

(5) Amendment (11), item 11, paragraph 223(3A)(b), omit "least 900 penalty units", substitute "least 1,100 penalty units".

(6) Amendment (11), item 11, after subsection 223(3A), insert:

(3B) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(c) or (3A)(c), in determining whether a person failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the conduct mentioned in paragraph (3)(a) or (3A)(a), regard must be had to the office held by the person in the organisation when the conduct occurred.

What is the bill's main idea?

The bill was introduced in order to:

• include serious criminal offences punishable by five or more years’ imprisonment as a new category of ‘prescribed offence’ for the purposes of the automatic disqualification regime which prohibits a person from acting as an official of a registered organisation
• allow the Federal Court to disqualify officials from holding office where they have: > * contravened a range of industrial laws > * are found in contempt of court in relation to industrial laws or certain other circumstances > * repeatedly fail to stop their organisation from breaking the law or > * are otherwise not a fit and proper person to hold office in a registered organisation
• make it an offence for a person to continue to act as an official or in a way that influences the affairs of an organisation once disqualified
• allow the Federal Court to deregister an organisation (or make alternative orders) where there is: > * unlawful or otherwise improper conduct of the affairs of the organisation > * serious criminal offences committed by the organisation > * repeated breaches of a range of industrial laws by its members or > * the taking of obstructive unprotected industrial action by a substantial number of members
• allow applications to be made to the Federal Court for alternative orders, including suspending the rights and privileges of an organisation, an individual or a branch or division of an organisation, instead of making an order deregistering an organisation.
• expand the grounds on which the Federal Court may order remedial action to deal with governance issues in an organisation and expressly provide that the Federal Court may appoint an administrator to an organisation or part of an organisation as part of a remedial scheme and
• introduce a public interest test for amalgamations of registered organisations, which will allow relevant matters to be taken into account, such as each organisation’s record of compliance with industrial laws.