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Employment & workplaceAgency

Workplace Authority

1 July 2007 – 1 January 2010

Previously Office of the Employment Advocate (1997–2007).

Statutory agency headed by the Workplace Authority Director that received the lodgement of workplace agreements, assessed them against the fairness test and later the no-disadvantage test, and gave information on agreement making.

Names over time

  1. Office of the Employment Advocate1997–2007
  2. Workplace Authority2007–2010

How it came into existence

Renamed from the Office of the Employment Advocate from 1 July 2007 under the Workplace Relations Amendment (A Stronger Safety Net) Act 2007, which introduced the fairness test for workplace agreements.

Legislation: Workplace Relations Act 1996 (as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment (A Stronger Safety Net) Act 2007)

Changes during its life

  1. March 2008The Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 ended the making of new Australian Workplace Agreements and introduced a no-disadvantage test for Individual Transitional Employment Agreements.
  • Part split off to form Fair Work Australia · 1 July 2009
    • Approval of workplace agreements

    The Workplace Authority continued to deal with agreements made under the Workplace Relations Act until 31 December 2009.

  • Part split off to form Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman · 1 July 2009
    • Information and advice on workplace agreements

How it ended

From 1 July 2009 approval of new enterprise agreements passed to Fair Work Australia and its information and advisory roles to the Fair Work Ombudsman; it continued to deal with agreements made under the Workplace Relations Act during the transitional bridging period to 31 December 2009, after which it ceased.

Main functions

  • Lodgement of collective and individual workplace agreements
  • Applying the fairness test to agreements
  • Assessing transitional agreements against the no-disadvantage test
  • Information and advice on agreement making

Where it sits

Last in the portfolio of Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Lineage

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Sources

Government records and websites

Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.