Summary

The bill: repeals the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (other than Schedules relating to registered organisations and transitionally registered associations) and renames it 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; ensures no reduction in employees’ take home pay results from the transition to a modern award; establishes rules in relation to the treatment of existing instruments; introduces transitional bargaining and agreement-making rules; 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; and amends the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and Federal Magistrates Act 1999 to create Fair Work Divisions within those courts.