INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
PRACTICE NOTE NO. 4
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First Issue Date:
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17 December 1999
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Re-Issue Date:
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1 February 2010
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Re- issued pursuant to Section 185A of the Industrial
Relations Act 1996 and Section 15 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005.
TELEPHONE
CONCILIATION CONFERENCES
BEFORE THE
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
(1) The purpose of
this Practice Note is to allow the parties the opportunity to seek to have
certain conferences conducted by way of telephone conference where appropriate
circumstances are shown to exist to justify the Industrial Relations Commission
of New South Wales taking that step.
(2) This Practice
Note has effect from the date of re-issue.
(3) This Practice
Note applies to conciliation or other conferences held by the Industrial
Relations Commission of New South Wales ("the Commission") in the
following proceedings:
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Description of
Proceedings
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Conciliation or
other Conference under:
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(a) Application pursuant to section 84 of the Industrial
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Section 86, Industrial Relations Act 1996
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Relations Act 1996 relating to alleged unfair
dismissal
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(b) Application pursuant to section 106 of the Industrial
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Section 109, Industrial Relations Act 1996
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Relations Act 1996 relating to alleged unfair
contract
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(c) Notifications relating to industrial disputes pursuant
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Section 134, Industrial Relations Act 1996
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to section 130of the Industrial Relations Act 1996
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(d) Inquiry into any industrial matter
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Section 162(2)(j), Industrial Relations Act 1996
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However, nothing in this Practice Note prevents the
Commission using telephone conferencing or any other form of procedure in any
of the matters listed above or in any other matter.
(4) Any party may
ask the Commission to conduct a conference by way of a telephone conference,
rather than by personal appearance, where it is not, or may not be, practicable
for a party to attend a conference for reasons of:
(a) costs;
(b) distance;
(c) physical or
other disability;
(d) the nature of
the relationship between the parties; or
(e) such other
reason as appears appropriate to the Commission.
(5) A party
proposing to make a request to the Commission must, before doing so, make
reasonable attempts to obtain the consent of all other parties to the matter to
the matter being conducted in that manner.
(6) A request must:
(a) be in writing
addressed to the Industrial Registrar;
(b) set out the
grounds on which the request is made;
(c) be made as soon
as practical after the party is notified of the proposed date of the
conference;
(d) indicate whether
the application is by consent of the other parties to the matter and, if not,
what response to the request for consent was given by the other parties; and
(e) set out
telephone numbers (which must not be mobile telephone numbers) at which the
applicant for the telephone conference and all parties to the proceedings may
be reached.
(7) The Commission
may, if it thinks appropriate that the conference be held by telephone, agree
to the request, with or without such conditions as it thinks fit. The
Commission shall notify the parties of the result of the application but shall
not be obliged to give reasons for its decision.
(8) (a) As
soon as a party is notified by the Commission that a conference is to be held
by way of telephone, each party, if it has not already done so, must notify the
Industrial Registrar forthwith in writing of a telephone number (which must not
be a mobile telephone number) at which the party can be reached.
(b) It is the
responsibility of each party to be available at the number given at the time
specified by the Commission.
(9) Parties should
ensure that any documents to which they wish to refer in a telephone conference
are sent to the Commission, and served on the other parties to the conference, prior
to the date of the conference. Documents should be sent to the Industrial
Registry so as to arrive at least 24 hours before the conference. Documents which do not exceed more than 20
pages in total may be sent by facsimile.
Boland J, President
1 February 2010
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Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.