Fair Work Commission

The Fair Work Commission's role

The Fair Work Commission is responsible for administering certain provisions of the Fair Work Registered Organisations Act (RO Act) that deals with registration and accountability of registered organisations.

Those provisions include:

• registration, amalgamations and deregistration
• rules

The Fair Work Commission also deals with:

• right of entry permits
• WHS permits
• disputes
• appeals

Note: All existing permits and permit applications will continue, and are unaffected by recent changes to the RO Act.

Some functions that were previously dealt with by the Fair Work Commission are now the responsibility of the Registered Organisations Commission (ROC). The functions are split between the Fair Work Commission and the ROC as follows:

Organisations should ensure that they are lodging their applications and documents with the correct Commission.

For questions relating to specific matters that must be lodged or may have been transferred to the ROC, please contact the ROC by email to regorgs@roc.gov.au or telephone on 1300 341 665. Organisations seeking information or to subscribe to updates from the Registered Organisations Commission should visit the ROC website.

Regulator performance

Until 30 April 2017 the Fair Work Commission’s responsibilities, through its General Manager, included regulating the finances, financial administration, elections and conduct of officers of federally registered trade unions and employer associations. These responsibilities were covered by the Regulator Performance Framework.

To find out more go to the Regulator performance page on our website.

What is a registered organisation?

A registered organisation is:

• an association of employers
• an association of employees (a union), or
• an enterprise association

which has been registered by the Fair Work Commission under the the RO Act.

Why become a registered organisation?

Some of the rights gained by becoming a registered organisation include:

• being able to represent members in the Commission
• free elections of officers conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission
• becoming a body corporate
• being able to sue or be sued in its registered name.

Recognised state-registered associations

To represent their members in the national workplace relations system, state-registered employer associations and unions can seek federal recognition under the RO Act, under either:

• Schedule 1, as a transitionally recognised association (TRA), or
• Schedule 2, as a recognised state-registered association (RSRA).