EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 99

 

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

 

Fair Work Act 2009

 

Fair Work Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

Part 5-1 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) establishes and confers functions on Fair Work Australia (FWA) as an independent agency to oversee the workplace relations system.

 

Section 796 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

Section 625 of the Act provides for the President of FWA may make a number of delegations and section 671 of the Act provides for the General Manager of FWA may make a number of delegations. A delegation may be given under these sections to a member of staff of FWA who is an SES employee (or acting SES employee), or in a class of employees prescribed by the regulations. There is currently no class of employees prescribed by the regulations.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to enable managers of regional offices of FWA to exercise powers under delegation from the President and General Manager. At the time of drafting the Act, the organisational structure of FWA was still to be finalised and it was left to the regulations to prescribe these employees (who are not SES employees).

 

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

 

The Act does not impose any conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

 

An assessment was made under the guidelines issued by the Office of Best Practice Regulation, which indicated that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required.

 

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

The Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.

ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Fair Work Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

 

Regulation 1 provides that the title of the Regulations is the Fair Work Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1).

 

Regulation 2 – Commencement

 

Regulation 2 provides for the Regulations to commence on the day after they are registered.

 

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Fair Work Regulations 2009

 

Regulation 3 provides that the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (the Principal Regulations) are to be amended as set out in Schedule 1.

 

Schedule 1 Amendments

 

Item [1] – Regulation 5.01, heading

 

Item 1 changes the heading of regulation 5.01 to identify that the regulation relates to the delegation of prescribed functions by the President of FWA. New regulation 5.01A relates to delegation by the President to prescribed persons.

 

Item [2] – After regulation 5.01

 

Item 2 inserts a new regulation 5.01A into the Principal Regulations to prescribe ‘State or Territory Service Managers’ as a class of employees under paragraph 625(3)(c) to whom a delegation may be given under subsection 625(2) of the Act. State and Territory Service Managers are responsible for the operation of regional offices, but are not SES officers.

 

Item [3] – After regulation 5.04

 

Item 3 inserts a new regulation 5.04A into the Principal Regulations to prescribe ‘State or Territory Service Managers’ as a class of employees under paragraph 671(1)(b) to whom a General Manager may, in writing, delegate all or any of his or her functions or powers.