The NSW Government has proposed changes to the exercise of functions by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (NSW IRC) in response to a marked decreased workload level.
The Commission is primarily responsible for the conciliation and determination of unfair dismissal applications, industrial disputes and the approval of awards and enterprise agreements in the NSW public sector, including NSW local councils.
It is intended that the judicial functions of the NSW IRC (currently exercised by the Industrial Court) be transferred to the NSW Supreme Court and to be exercised by Judges within the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court. Part of the proposal will see President Walton the current sole Judge of the Industrial Court, be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
The NSW Government has claimed that this will allow matters to be allocated more efficiently and with greater diversity as there would be a larger number of judges who could be allocated a matter.
The workload of the Industrial Court was highlighted to have decreased in the ten years from 766 matters commenced in 2005 to just 35 matters in 2015. The reduction in workload was claimed to be due to changes in the industrial relations system, including the introduction of the national workplace relations system, and changes which saw work health and safety prosecutions transferred to the NSW District Court in 2010.
At present, there is no proposal to change the non-judicial functions of the NSW IRC (as performed by the Commission). However, it is intended that a new Chief Commissioner be appointed to be the head of the NSW IRC, increasing the number of Commissioners up from four to five Commissioners.
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