22-651: The Commonwealth Industrial Court , known as the Australian Industrial Court from 1973, was a specialist court to deal with industrial matters, principally the enforcement of awards and orders of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission . Over time it took on more matters and its judges were allocated a wide range of judicial tasks until it was replaced in 1977 by the Federal Court of Australia which had
44-507: A Jesuit priest , a human rights lawyer and an advocate for the rights of Aboriginal peoples . He is known for his involvement in the Wik debate when Paul Keating referred to him as "the meddling priest". Their second child, Madeline Brennan KC, is a barrister in Brisbane and has served as a director of a number of Catholic health and education providers. Their third child Dr Anne Brennan
66-589: A more general jurisdiction covering matters arising under Australian federal law. From 1904 until 1956 the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had exercised both arbitration functions, hearing and settling interstate industrial disputes by making awards, and judicial functions such as interpreting and enforcing those awards. In the Boilermaker's case , the High Court held that
88-716: A tribunal could not create new rights such as making an award, the arbitration function, and enforce those rights, the judicial function, due to the separation of powers in the Australian Constitution . The functions of the court were split, with the judicial functions being given to the newly created Commonwealth Industrial Court and the arbitration functions being given to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. The six remaining judges, were similarly split with two judges, Edward Dunphy and Sir Edward Morgan , being appointed to
110-679: Is a psychiatrist who came to prominence in the Barrett Adolescent Centre Commission of Inquiry . Their fourth child Tom Brennan SC is a barrister in Sydney. A son Paul was CEO of Polynovo Ltd an ASX listed biotechnology manufacturer until his resignation in 2021. A daughter, Bernadette , is the author of renowned literary biographies This Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work ; and Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears. Brennan died on 1 June 2022 in Sydney, aged 94, two days before Mabo Day and
132-590: The Crown's sovereignty over Australia , replacing it with the doctrine of native title , and thus protecting Aboriginal people's claims to land. This decision eventually gave rise to the Native Title Act . Brennan is also notable for his landmark judgement in Waltons v Maher , which established equitable estoppel as a cause of action in itself. He was appointed by prime minister Paul Keating to become
154-673: The Enterprise Bargaining Agreement system. A similar system was also used in New Zealand prior to the Labour Relations Act 1987 . New Zealand no longer uses the award system, and the only form of collective bargaining is collective agreements , which apply only to the particular unions and employers that negotiate them. Gerard Brennan Sir Francis Gerard Brennan AC KBE GBS QC (22 May 1928 – 1 June 2022)
176-594: The National Employment Standards , provide a minimum safety net of terms and conditions of employment for all national system employees. The pay rates are often called award wages or award rates . Awards in Australia are part of the system of compulsory arbitration in industrial relations. Federal awards in Australia were stripped back to number 122 under the Abbott government, to promote
198-646: The 10th Chief Justice of Australia in 1995. Following his retirement from the High Court, Brennan was a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (2000-2012) and an external judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji (1999–2000), chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney (1998–2004) and Foundation Scientia Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (1998). He
220-722: The 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision. In 1981, Brennan was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and, in 1988, appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the law. Brennan was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Melbourne (Hon. LL.D. ), the University of Technology, Sydney (Hon. LL.D.), the University of Queensland (Hon. LL.D.), Griffith University (Hon. D.Univ.), Central Queensland University (Hon. D.Litt.), Trinity College Dublin (Hon. LL.D.) and
242-622: The Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The establishment of a federal court was proposed at least as early as 1957, and was announced by Nigel Bowen , the Attorney-General, in 1967. Bowen said that a Commonwealth superior court was necessary because the burden of work in the High Court's original jurisdiction might limit its capacity to perform its primary roles of interpreting the Constitution and as
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#1732772802392264-615: The Commonwealth Industrial Court and four, Sir Richard Kirby , Alfred Foster , Sydney Wright and Richard Ashburner being appointed to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. The Australian Government challenged the High Court's decision in the Boilermaker's case and obtained special leave to appeal to the Privy Council on 1 June 1956. The Australian parliament did not wait for
286-641: The Federal Court on 1 February 1977, two judges over the age of 65 were appointed, Sir Reginald Smithers then aged 73 and Sir John Nimmo , then aged 68. Two judges of the Australian Industrial Court were not appointed to the Federal Court, Sir Percy Joske , then aged 81 and Edward Dunphy, then aged 69. The Constitutional amendment to section 72 , which introduced a retirement age of 70, did not come in to force until 29 July 1977. The last judge Ray Northrop retired in 1998 however
308-807: The appointment of Sir John Spicer to the Copyright Law Review Committee, and John Kerr to the Commonwealth Administrative Review Committee. The Copyright Law Review Committee subsequently recommended the appointment of the Copyright Tribunal and Sir John Spicer was appointed as its president. When the Australian Parliament passed the Trade Practices Act in 1965, the Commonwealth Industrial Court
330-428: The court of ultimate appeal.. It was however another 9 years until the Federal Court was established, absorbing the jurisdiction of the Australian Industrial Court, the Federal Court of Bankruptcy and some of the original jurisdiction of the High Court, including appeals from the supreme courts of the territories. It was initially announced that no judge would be appointed over the age of 65, When judges were appointed to
352-616: The court was not formally abolished until 2004. Industrial award A modern award (or award previously known as an "industrial award") is a ruling in Australian labour law of the national Fair Work Commission (or its predecessor) or by a state industrial relations commission which grants all wage earners in one industry or occupation the same minimum pay rates and conditions of employment such as leave entitlements , overtime and shift work , as well as other workplace-related conditions. The national awards, with
374-568: The outcome of the appeal, passing the Conciliation and Arbitration Act which received assent on 30 June 1956. The court was formally established on 15 August 1956 and then Attorney-General John Spicer was appointed the first, and as it transpired, only, Chief Judge. Judges of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had previously been appointed to act in various courts, This practice continued with appointments to
396-553: The supreme courts of the Australian Capital Territory , Christmas , Cocos (Keeling) , & Norfolk Islands. Sir John Spicer was appointed to the first Royal Commission into the collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager , and inquiries into the aviation crashes of TAA Flight 538 (1960), Ansett-ANA Flight 325 (1961) and Ansett-ANA Flight 149 (1966). Judges were also appointed to committees to review legislation and report to parliament, such as
418-596: Was an Australian lawyer and jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Australia . As a judge in the High Court of Australia, he wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision , which gave rise to the Native Title Act . Brennan was born on 22 May 1928, in Rockhampton , Queensland . He was the son of Frank Tenison Brennan , a Labor Party politician, lawyer and judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland . He
440-511: Was an honorary visiting professor of law at the University of New South Wales . In a 2001 exchange of letters with Archbishop George Pell , he defended the primacy of conscience over obedience to authority. In June 2021, Brennan intervened in a public debate over a family of asylum seekers , supporting the family with a letter in major newspapers. It begins: In 1953, Brennan married Patricia O'Hara. Lady Brennan died on 3 September 2019. Their first child, Frank Brennan , born in 1954, became
462-623: Was given power to enforce orders of the Trade Practices Tribunal, and Sir Richard Eggleston was appointed the first president of the Trade Practices Tribunal. In 1976 when the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was established appeals were to the Australian Industrial Court, adding yet another non-industrial matter to the Court's jurisdiction, and Gerard Brennan was appointed as the first President of
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#1732772802392484-406: Was raised as, and continued to be, a Catholic and has said: "Egalitarianism, tolerance and the respect for conscience are the practical manifestations of faith, hope and charity." Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser appointed Brennan to the court in 1981. As a High Court judge, Brennan wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision , which overturned the doctrine of terra nullius used to justify
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