The Fair Work transitional and consequential Act received assent on 25 June 2009. The Act was first introduced to the Parliament on 19 March 2009.

For the Rudd Government to install its Fair Work regime, it needs to allow for a transition from the old industrial relations system to the new. This Act deals with the transitional and consequential Fair Work matters such as repealing the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) and detailing what happens to old agreements and awards.

Specifically, the Act:

• repeals the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (other than Schedules relating to registered organisations and transitionally registered associations) and renames it as the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009
• provides for the application of the National Employment Standards and minimum wages to all national system employees from 1 January 2010
• provides for no reduction in employees’ take home pay resulting from the move to a modern award
• establishes rules in relation to the treatment of existing instruments
• introduces transitional bargaining and agreement-making rules
• defines the transitional definition of small business employer for unfair dismissal purposes
• abolishes the office of Workplace Ombudsman (WO)
• provides for the limited, continued operation of the Australian Fair Pay Commission, WO, Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) and the Australian Industrial Registry and appoints existing full-time AIRC members to Fair Work Australia (FWA)
• provides that existing investigations and compliance proceedings by the WO will be dealt with by the Fair Work Ombudsman and allows Fair Work Inspectors to exercise new compliance powers in relation to breaches occurring before or after 1 July 2009
• gives FWA power to make representation orders in response to union demarcation disputes
• establishes rules to enable state-registered organisations to participate in the new federal workplace relations system
• creates Fair Work Divisions within the Federal Court and Federal Magistrates Court.

Before the Act was passed Senator Xenophon added an amendment to the part dealing with the continuation of the award modernisation process. The amendment means that the AIRC has to consider:

the likely effects on the relevant industry or industry sector of any modern award that the Commission is considering…including on productivity, labour costs and the regulatory burden on businesses.

For more information see the:

Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009

Explanatory memorandum

Also see the:

Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2009