Public Service Association of South Australia Incorporated v. Industrial Relations Commission of South Australia and Anor

Lower Court Judgment

15/03/2011 Supreme Court of South Australia (Doyle CJ, Duggan J, Vanstone J)

[2011] SASCFC 14

Catchwords

Administrative law — Judicial review — Grounds of review — Jurisdictional matters — Applicant notified two disputes in Industrial Relations Commission of South Australia ("Commission") — Commission at first instance and on appeal ruled it lacked jurisdiction to determine disputes — Section 206 of Fair Work Act 1994 (SA) ("Act") precludes review of Commission determinations unless "on the ground of an excess or want of jurisdiction" — Full Court of Supreme Court of South Australia ("Court") held it lacked jurisdiction to review Commission's determinations and dismissed summons for judicial review — Whether s 206 of Act precludes judicial review by Court of jurisdictional error not in "excess or want of jurisdiction" — Whether s 206 of Act beyond power of South Australian Parliament — Whether Kirk v Industrial Court of New South Wales (2010) 239 CLR 531 impliedly overruled Public Service Association of South Australia v Federated Clerks' Union of Australia, South Australian Branch (1991) 173 CLR 132.

Constitutional law — Commonwealth Constitution, Ch III — State Supreme Courts — Power of State Parliament to alter defining characteristic of Supreme Court of a State — Supervisory jurisdiction — Whether all jurisdictional errors of tribunals must be subject to review by the Supreme Court of a State — Whether s 206 of Act impermissibly limits Court's jurisdiction to exercise judicial review where jurisdictional error has occurred.

Industrial law — South Australia — Commission — Jurisdiction — Public servants — Disputes raised in Commission concerning "no forced redundancy" commitment, recreational leave loading and long service leave provisions in Enterprise Agreement — Whether Commission and Court erred in relation to jurisdiction.

Words and phrases — "on the ground of an excess or want of jurisdiction".

Short Particulars