Fair Work report increases union scrutiny

Posted April 04, 2012 18:16:46

The conclusion of Fair Work Australia’s three-year-long inquiry into the Health Services Union (HSU) has not only intensified the pressure on Labor MP Craig Thomson, but also turned up the scrutiny on the industrial umpire itself.

Fair Work Australia has identified 181 breaches of workplace laws and referred its 1,100-page report to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for possible criminal charges.

But it says it will not release the report publicly, based on legal advice.

 

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to intervene and force the release of the report, saying not to do so smacks of a cover-up.

He has also demanded to know if Mr Thomson – the Labor MP accused of using his union credit card to pay for prostitutes during his time at the HSU – is named in the report.

A well-regarded specialist in workplace law from the University of Adelaide, Professor Andrew Stewart, agrees there are serious questions to be answered about the length of time the investigation has taken.

“Almost anyone looking at this investigation would ask why it took so long over the first couple of years,” he said.

“So at this stage, we have no real explanation of that, and I suspect we won’t have one until the ombudsman’s report into the investigation process is completed.”

Report kept private

The World Today spoke to a former high-ranking judicial officer with extensive experience in industrial law who preferred not to be named.

He said Fair Work Australia should release its legal advice to establish the bona fides of its decision not to release the report.

Professor Stewart says the decision is unsurprising.

“It’s not at all unusual for a report of this type to be kept private while an assessment is being made about whether criminal charges are possible,” he said.

“The police don’t routinely release reports from their internal investigations while a decision is still being made about whether or not a prosecution should be initiated.”

Professor Stewart says the example used by the Opposition of the Queensland Fitzgerald Inquiry as a precedent for doing so is not a fair comparison

“It’s not the same,” he said.

“This is a question of a process that it is operating under legislation that places clear limits on Fair Work Australia in terms of when it’s appropriate to disclose information.

“I think there have been many, many other examples where you’ve had investigations where the details remained largely confidential until a decision has been made [on] whether or not to pursue criminal processes.”

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will meet tomorrow to consider suspending the beleaguered HSU from its ranks.

Topics:unions, law-crime-and-justice, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, australia, adelaide-5000