1. Introduction
1.1 This agreement is to be known as the Department of the Senate Enterprise Agreement 2024-2026.
2. Parties to the agreement
2.1 This agreement covers:
- the Clerk of the Senate, for and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia as the employer;
- all employees in the Department of the Senate employed under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 other than Senior Executive Service employees or equivalent;
- subject to notice being given in accordance with section 183 of the Fair Work Act 2009, and the following employee organisation which was a bargaining representative for this agreement:
- Community and Public Sector Union.
3. Operation of the agreement
3.1 This agreement will commence operation seven days after approval by the Fair Work Commission.
3.2 This agreement will nominally expire on 9 November 2026.
4. Definitions
4.1 The following definitions apply to this agreement:
5. Delegations
5.1 The Clerk may, in writing, delegate or authorise any or all of their powers and functions under this agreement, including this power of delegation, and may do so subject to conditions.
6. NES precedence
6.1 The terms of this agreement are intended to apply in a manner that does not derogate from the NES. The NES will continue to apply to the extent that any term of this agreement is detrimental to an employee of the department in any respect when compared with the NES.
7. Closed comprehensive agreement
7.1 This agreement states the terms and conditions of employment of employees covered by this agreement, other than terms and conditions applying under relevant Commonwealth laws.
7.2 This agreement will be supported by departmental guidelines, as implemented and varied from time to time.
7.3 Departmental guidelines are not incorporated into and do not form part of this agreement. To the extent that there is any inconsistency between departmental guidelines and the terms of this agreement, the terms of this agreement will prevail.
8. Individual flexibility agreements
8.1 The department and an employee covered by this agreement may agree to make an individual flexibility arrangement to vary the effect of terms of the agreement if:
- the agreement deals with one or more of the following matters:
- arrangements about when work is performed;
- overtime rates;
- penalty rates;
- allowances;
- remuneration;
- leave and leave loading; and
- the arrangement meets the genuine needs of the department and employee in relation to one or more of the matters mentioned in subclause 8.1(a); and
- the arrangement is genuinely agreed to by the department and employee.
8.2 The department must ensure that the terms of the individual flexibility arrangement:
- are about permitted matters under section 172 of the FW Act;
- are not unlawful terms under section 194 of the FW Act; and
- result in the employee being better off overall than the employee would be if no arrangement was made.
8.3 The department must ensure that the individual flexibility arrangement:
- is in writing;
- includes the name of the department and employee;
- is signed by the department and employee and if the employee is under 18 years of age, is signed by a parent or guardian of the employee; and
- includes details of:
- the terms of the enterprise agreement that will be varied by the arrangement;
- how the arrangement will vary the effect of the terms;
- how the employee will be better off overall in relation to the terms and conditions of their employment as a result of the arrangement; and
- states the day on which the arrangement commences.
8.4 The department must give the employee a copy of the individual flexibility arrangement within 14 days after it is agreed to.
8.5 The department or employee may terminate the individual flexibility arrangement:
- by giving no more than 28 days written notice to the other party to the arrangement; or
- if the department and employee agree in writing – at any time.
8.6 The department and employee are to review the individual flexibility arrangement at least every 12 months.
9. Formal acceptance of the Agreement
9.1 This agreement is made under section 172 of the FW Act. Accordingly, it is an agreement between the employer and the employees who are covered by this agreement.