Hansch v Transport Workers Union of Australia [1998] IRCA 14

Hansch v Transport Workers Union of Australia [1998] IRCA 14

The purported grant by the Branch Committee of Management of long service leave to the applicant for the period from 26 September 1995 to 19 April 1996 was ultra vires and void because the Committee lacked power to retrospectively deem leave taken during a period where the applicant was asserting his readiness and entitlement to work. Moreover, the resolutions of the special general meeting of 21 August 1996 were invalid as the required notice failed to specify the business to be transacted, depriving the applicant of procedural fairness as required by both the rules and the common law principles of natural justice.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
25 May 1998
Procedural Posture
Industrial Relations Litigation (union Employment Dispute) / Judgment Following Trial and Further Return of Rule Nisi
Outcome
Declarations granted; purported long service leave grant declared void; resolutions of special general meeting declared null and void; liberty to apply reserved.
Legal Topics
['trade Union Discipline and Expulsion' 'long Service Leave Entitlements' 'procedural Fairness' 'notice Requirements for Union Meetings']
['employment Law' 'industrial Relations' 'administrative Law'] ['trade Union Discipline and Expulsion' 'long Service Leave Entitlements' 'procedural Fairness' 'notice Requirements for Union Meetings']

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Procedural Posture

Industrial Relations Litigation (union Employment Dispute) / Judgment Following Trial and Further Return of Rule Nisi

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the purported grant of long service leave to the applicant for the period 26 September 1995 to 19 April 1996 was valid' 'Whether the resolutions of the special general meeting of the Tasmanian Branch of the TWU convened on 21 August 1996 were valid given the adequacy of notice and procedural fairness']

Ratio Decidendi

The purported grant by the Branch Committee of Management of long service leave to the applicant for the period from 26 September 1995 to 19 April 1996 was ultra vires and void because the Committee lacked power to retrospectively deem leave taken during a period where the applicant was asserting his readiness and entitlement to work. Moreover, the resolutions of the special general meeting of 21 August 1996 were invalid as the required notice failed to specify the business to be transacted, depriving the applicant of procedural fairness as required by both the rules and the common law principles of natural justice.

Court Disposition

Declarations granted; purported long service leave grant declared void; resolutions of special general meeting declared null and void; liberty to apply reserved.

Orders

  • ['Any purported grant by the Committee of Management of the Tasmanian Branch of the first respondent of long service leave to the applicant for the whole or any part of the period from 26 September 1995 to 19 April 1996 is void and of no effect.' 'Each of the respondents, other than the first respondent, perform and...