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Annual performance statements 2015–16
Introduction
I, Bernadette O'Neill, as the accountable authority of the Fair Work Commission, present the 2015–16 annual performance statements of the Fair Work Commission, as required under paragraph 39(1)(a) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. In my opinion, these annual performance statements are based on properly maintained records, accurately reflect the performance of the entity, and comply with subsection 39(2) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
22 September 2016
Bernadette O'Neill
General Manager
Fair Work Commission
Purpose
The Commission is Australia's national workplace relations tribunal responsible for administering provisions of the Fair Work Act and the Registered Organisations Act.
As set out in the Corporate Plan 2015–16, the Commission has two purposes:
- to perform its functions in accordance with the Fair Work Act
- to excercise its powers and functions in accordance with the Registered Organisations Act
Outcome & programme structure
The Commission had a single planned outcome and programme, as set out in the 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements:
Simple, fair and flexible workplace relations for employees and employers through the exercise of powers to set and vary minimum wages and modern awards, facilitate collective bargaining, approve agreements and deal with disputes.
The Commission delivered the following programme:
Dispute resolution, minimum wage setting, orders and approval of agreements.
The Commission's programme objective is to exercise powers under the Fair Work Act:
- in accordance with the objects of the Fair Work Act
- in a manner that is fair and just; is quick, informal and avoids unnecessary technicalities; is open and transparent; and promotes harmonious and cooperative workplace relations
The Commission's programme objective for 2015–16 included exercising powers under the Road Safety Remuneration Act 2012 in accordance with the objects of that Act. On 19 April 2016, the Road Safety Remuneration Repeal Act 2016 received royal assent, causing the repeal of the Road Safety Remuneration Act 2012 on 21 April 2016. Please refer to Appendix F for all reporting on the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.
The following annual performance statements provide measures of progress against the Portfolio Budget Statements and the key performance indicators (KPIs) set out in the Commission's Corporate Plan 2015–16.
Results
Purpose: To perform functions in accordance with the Fair Work Act
Performance criterion: Improve or maintain the time elapsed from lodging applications to finalising conciliations in unfair dismissal applications
Source: Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16, Budget Related Paper No. 1.6, page 133
Result against performance criterion: The Commission has met the performance criterion set out in the Portfolio Budget Statements in 2015–16 by maintaining the time from lodging an unfair dismissal application to finalising conciliation at 34 days. In 2015–16, there were 14,694 unfair dismissal applications lodged, and staff of the Commission conducted 10,850 conciliation conferences.
| Target | 2015–16 | 2014–15 | 2013–14 | 2012–13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median time of 34 days | 34 days | 28 days | 46 days | 25 days |
Performance criterion: Annual wage review to be completed to enable an operative date of 1 July
Source: Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16, Budget Related Paper No. 1.6, page 133
Result against performance criterion: In 2015–16, the Commission comfortably met the annual wage review operative date target, with the annual wage review completed on 31 May 2016.
| Target | 2015–16 | 2014–15 | 2013–14 | 2012–13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By 30 June | 31 May 2016 | 2 June 2015 | 4 June 2014 | 3 June 2013 |
Performance criterion: Improve or maintain the agreement approval time
Source: Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16, Budget Related Paper No. 1.6, page 133
Result against performance criterion: The Commission has met the performance criterion set out in the Portfolio Budget Statements in 2015–16 by improving the time from lodgment to finalisation of applications for approval of an enterprise agreement. In 2015–16, the Commission dealt with 5,449 applications for approval of an enterprise agreement, with a median time between lodgment and finalisation of 18 days, an improvement of three days from the previous year.
| Target | 2015–16 | 2014–15 | 2013–14 | 2012–13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median time of 32 days | 18 days | 21 days | 17 days | 16 days |
Performance criterion: Improve or maintain the time taken to list applications relating to industrial action
Source: Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16, Budget Related Paper No. 1.6, page 133
Result against performance criteria: In 2015–16, the Commission listed industrial action matters for hearing in a median time of three days. By maintaining the time taken to list these applications, this performance criterion was met.
| Target | 2015–16 | 2014–15 | 2013–14 | 2012–13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median time of 3 days | 3 days | 3 days | 2 days | 3 days |
Performance criterion: Implement a Fair Work Commission communications strategy
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 14
Result against performance criterion: The Commission's communications strategy in 2015–16 focused on delivering an improved website, as the primary mechanism for providing information to the public and tools for parties to assist them in making or responding to an application to the Commission.
Performance criterion: Engaging with users, organisations, practitioners, the research community and small business to disseminate information about the role of the Fair Work Commission and to obtain feedback
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 14
Result against performance criterion: The Commission has developed a broad stakeholder engagement strategy that aims to engage with our community and deliver services that meet their requirements. The Commission recognises that the needs of the community it serves are changing and so it regularly consults with clients, stakeholders, research groups and the broader community to ensure that services delivered meet the demands of a contemporary workplace relations system.
Commission Members regularly engage with the workplace relations community by providing formal and informal presentations on the Commission's work. More information on the activities of Commission Members is provided in Appendix C.
The Commission's Workplace Relations Education series continues to be a popular feature of the engagement program, providing opportunities for interaction with the community through lectures and mock hearings. This year, a lecture and a number of mock hearings were held in Melbourne as part of Law Week 2016 and a mock hearing was held in Canberra. The lecture, delivered by the Commission's panel head for anti-bullying, provided attendees with background on the development of the jurisdiction and a first-hand perspective on the experiences and challenges faced by the tribunal in the first years of the jurisdiction. The mock hearings were very well attended and received positive feedback from attendees.
The Commission also conducted a range of engagement activities focused on registered organisations, including webinars and targeted activities to promote compliance.
Performance criterion: Appropriate engagement and collaboration with external stakeholders, including APS agencies, as appropriate for an independent tribunal
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 14
Result against performance criterion: In March 2016, the Commission hosted a forum in collaboration with the Centre for Workplace Leadership and the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event featured a range of speakers and focused on the Future of Work in manufacturing.
In 2015–16 the Commission continued to work cooperatively and share information with the Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Building and Construction, Federal Court of Australia and Fair Work Division of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.
The Commission has joined with JobWatch and the Springvale Monash Legal Service to establish the Workplace Advice Clinic, a pilot program to provide an hour's free legal assistance to unrepresented applicants in unfair dismissal and general protections matters in Melbourne. The Workplace Advice Clinic is an extension of an earlier, more limited pro bono program. While the Commission facilitates the appointments for the clinic, all advice provided is independent of the tribunal.
Performance criterion: Implementation of the Future Directions change program
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: The Future Directions change program has been substantially implemented. The program is directed at improving service delivery and reducing transaction costs for parties, with a view to enhancing public value. The change program involves delivery of more than 50 initiatives around four key themes:
- promoting fairness and improving access
- efficiency and innovation
- increasing accountability
- productivity and engaging with industry
As part of developing each stage of the Future Directions program, the Commission consulted widely with stakeholders, staff and Members across the country through forums, events, presentations and conferences.
This year sees the substantial completion of that program of work and integration of pilot projects into business as usual.
During 2015–16, the Commission developed and published new benchbooks, improved access to audio files of Commission hearings, provided virtual tours of court rooms for the public, extended a pro-bono lawyer program and moved further towards complete digitisation of the Commission's forms.
A separate report card on the final stage of the Future Directions program will be published on the Commission's website.
Performance criterion: Activities to promote productive and cooperative workplace relationships, including the New Approaches program
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: The New Approaches program complements the Commission's existing dispute resolution and bargaining functions by providing a formal process to assist parties to work together to develop new ways of resolving conflict at the workplace using interest-based problem-solving.
Following a successful pilot led by Deputy President Booth, New Approaches was formalised as a standard Commission service in 2015–16.
The Commission facilitated a number of workshops across the country with stakeholders as part of its engagement strategy for New Approaches in 2015–16. Commission Members delivered a number of sessions on the New Approaches program generally, as well as on more specific topics such as interest-based bargaining and dispute resolution.
As at 30 June 2016, there were 17 active files in the New Approaches program. The Commission continues to provide a range of facilitation services, advice and support to parties in those matters.
Performance criterion: Availability of improved and current information for users
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: In 2015–16, the availability of information for users has improved and the Commission launched its new website on 8 July 2016.
The new website's design and features are based on feedback received during a website usability review of the former website in the first part of 2015.
The enhancements will assist people to more easily locate information about the Commission and its services. The Commission will continue to review and update the new website and welcomes ongoing feedback about potential improvements.
The Commission has developed a number of tools and resources for users including benchbooks and the Quarterly Practitioner Update. The Fair Work Commission Bulletin, containing summaries of selected recent decisions, is published weekly.
Performance criterion: Demonstrated improvements to service delivery models
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: In 2015–16 all conciliation conferences in general protections applications involving dismissal were conducted by specialist staff. This change followed a pilot program which was independently reviewed and which is available on the Commission's website. The review identified improvements in timeliness and parties' satisfaction from the changed service delivery model.
In 2015–16, 71 per cent of all matters referred to specialist staff were resolved by the parties agreeing to settle the dispute at conciliation. Parties to matters were surveyed at the conclusion of their conference and 72 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied with the conciliation process.
In relation to enterprise agreement approvals, the introduction of the agreements triage process has enabled the Commission to reduce the time from lodgment of an application to approve an enterprise agreement to its finalisation. Having been extended to include 90 per cent of enterprise agreement approval applications in 2015–16, the triage process has resulted in 50 per cent of applications being finalised in 18 days (down from 21 days) and 90 per cent of applications being finalised within 49 days (down from 56 days).
Performance criterion: Development of a digital strategy to deliver user-focused service improvements and efficiencies
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: User-focused digital service improvements and efficiencies have been delivered, with the introduction of a new online lodgment facility in August 2016. Development of a digital strategy is ongoing.
Performance criterion: Development of an improved case management system
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 15
Result against performance criterion: The Commission made substantial progress in developing a case management system, including a Request for Information approach to market in 2015–16.
Performance criterion: Public reporting against performance benchmarks
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 17
Result against performance criterion: Performance against timeliness benchmarks are published for:
- agreement approval times
- reserved decisions
- appeal reserved decisions
These results are published on the Commission's website, together with information on the outcomes of unfair dismissal applications. Additional performance reporting is contained in the Annual Report.
Performance criterion: Strategies to gain and respond to feedback from users
Source: Corporate Plan 2015–16, page 17
Result against performance criterion: The Commission developed two client satisfaction surveys in 2015–16 to obtain feedback on satisfaction levels from parties to general protections and anti-bullying matters. The Commission continued to survey parties following conciliation in unfair dismissal matters.
The Commission welcomes feedback and complaints by providing clear information on the website on how to make complaints and by providing various avenues to provide feedback or make a complaint. The information received is used to review and improve processes.
Analysis of performance against purpose
The Commission's purpose of exercising its functions in accordance with the Fair Work Act has been facilitated in 2015–16 by the achievement of the performance criteria reported above. This has been achieved through the actions committed to in the Corporate Plan around seeking, listening and responding to feedback to improve delivery against the Commission's purpose.
Purpose: The General Manager's powers and functions are exercised in accordance with the Registered Organisations Act
Performance criterion: 95 per cent of financial reports required to be lodged under the Registered Organisations Act are assessed for compliance within 40 working days
Source: Portfolio Budget Statements 2015–16, Budget Related Paper No. 1.6, page 133
Result against performance criterion: The performance criterion was exceeded in 2015–16, with 100 per cent of financial reports assessed within 40 working days.
| Target | 2015–16 | 2014–15 | 2013–14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95% within 40 days | 100 | 96.2 | 37.8 |
| Number of reports | 391 | 377 | 161 |
Analysis of performance against purpose
The achievement of the performance criterion reported above, in support of the purpose, is attributable to the actions committed to in the Corporate Plan. A combination of increased internal capability, extensive engagement with the regulated community and provision of tools, resources and education to aid voluntary compliance, together with dealing with non-compliance appropriately, has enabled the standard to which the purpose is met, to be improved.