The Industrial Relations Court of Australia was a short-lived Chapter III Court whose jurisdiction was transferred from the Federal Court in 1994,[1] and transferred back in 1997.[2][3] In the words of former Chief Justice Robert French, "The tide went in, the tide went out".[4] Every judge had a concurrent appointment in the Federal Court.[5] Despite the transfer of jurisdiction, any existing matter or appeal from an existing matter remained in the Industrial Relations Court of Australia,[6] with the result that the last case was not finally disposed of until 2005/6.[7] The Court was not to be abolished until after the last judge had retired.[2] The last judge to retire was Anthony North on 11 September 2018.[8] The court was formally abolished on 1 March 2021.[9]
| Industrial Relations Court of Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1994 |
| Dissolved | 2021 |
| Jurisdiction | Australia |
| Authorised by | Constitution of Australia Industrial Relations Act 1988 |
| Appeals to | High Court of Australia |
| Website | fedcourt |
The court was the latest in a line of specialist federal courts dealing with industrial relations matters,[10] being the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (1904–1956), whose court and arbitration functions were divided as a result of the Boilermakers' case,[11] succeeded by Commonwealth Industrial Court (1956–1973), which was renamed as the Australian Industrial Court (1973–1977).[4] The last remaining judge of the Australian Industrial Court, Ray Northrop was appointed to the new court.[12]
The creation of a specialist court was controversial,[13] with academics Breen Creighton and Andrew Stewart stating that it was not clear that the creation of the court would serve any useful purpose.[14] One of those opposed to the creation of the court was Federal Court judge Murray Wilcox who was subsequently offered appointment as Chief Justice. Wilcox reminded the Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, of his opposition, to which Lavarch responded that Wilcox's knowledge of the pitfalls would help the court to avoid them.[15]
List of judges
edit| Position | Name | From | To | Term | Comments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice | Murray Wilcox | 30 March 1994 | 2 October 2006 | 12 years, 186 days | [15] | |
| Judge | Ray Northrop | 9 August 1995 | 1 year, 132 days | [12] | ||
| John Keely | 29 February 1996 | 1 year, 336 days | [16] | |||
| Jeffrey Spender | 19 July 2010 | 16 years, 111 days | [17] | |||
| Peter Gray AM | 17 May 2013 | 19 years, 48 days | [18] | |||
| Donnell Ryan | 2 June 2011 | 17 years, 64 days | Additional Judge of the Supreme Court (ACT) | [19] | ||
| Malcolm Lee | 1 May 2006 | 12 years, 32 days | [16] | |||
| John von Doussa | 15 August 2003 | 9 years, 138 days | [16] | |||
| Michael Moore | 1 August 2011 | 17 years, 124 days | Additional Judge of the Supreme Court (ACT) | [16] | ||
| Margaret Beazley | 28 April 1996 | 2 years, 30 days | Appointed to Court of Appeal (NSW) | [20] | ||
| Shane Marshall | 17 July 1995 | 21 November 2015 | 20 years, 127 days | [21] | ||
| Anthony North | 3 October 1995 | 11 September 2018 | 22 years, 343 days | Additional Judge of the Supreme Court (ACT) | [8] | |
| Rodney Madgwick | 3 October 1995 | 21 April 2008 | 12 years, 201 days | Additional Judge of the Supreme Court (ACT) | [16] |
References
edit- ^ Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993 (Cth).
- ^ a b Workplace Relations and other Legislation Amendment Act 1996 (Cth).
- ^ "Annual Report 1996–97" (PDF). Industrial Relations Court of Australia. September 1997. Retrieved 5 December 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b French, R (1 May 2014). "Federal Circuit Court – History Repeats Itself" (PDF). High Court. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ "Industrial Relations Court of Australia". fedcourt.gov.au. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Autistic Association of New South Wales v Dodson [1999] FCA 439, (1999) 93 FCR 213 (14 April 1999), Federal Court (Full Court).
- ^ "Annual Report 2005–06" (PDF). Industrial Relations Court of Australia. 26 September 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court to Farewell the Honourable Justice North", fedcourt.gov.au, 7 September 2018, retrieved 18 September 2018
- ^ "Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment (Abolishment of Industrial Relations Court) Proclamation 2020". 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ Moore, M. "The role of specialist courts - an Australian perspective". [2001] Federal Judicial Scholarship 11.
- ^ R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia (Boilermaker's case) [1956] HCA 10, (1956) 94 CLR 254
, High Court. Affirmed on appeal Attorney-General (Cth) v The Queen [1957] UKPC 4, [1957] AC 288; [1957] UKPCHCA 1, (1957) 95 CLR 529, Privy Council (on appeal from Australia).
- ^ a b Gawler, Mike. "Farewell to Justice Northrop" (PDF). (1998) 72(10) The Law Institute Journal 19.
- ^ McCallum, R; McCarry, GJ & Ronfeldt, P, eds. (1994). "Introduction". Employment Security. Federation Press. p. xxxii. ISBN 9781862871465.
- ^ Creighton, WB & Stewart, A (1994). Labour law : an introduction. Federation Press. p. 88. ISBN 1862871345.
- ^ a b "Farewell to the Hon Justice Murray Wilcox" (PDF). (2006 Summer) Bar News: Journal of the NSW Bar Association 93.
- ^ a b c d e "Former Judges of the Federal Court of Australia". Federal Court of Australia. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
- ^ "Transcript of farewell to the Honourable Justice Spender". Federal Court of Australia. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011.
- ^ "Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court To farewell the Honourable Justice Gray". fedcourt.gov.au. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ "Ryan, Justice Donnell --- "Transcript of Farewell ceremony"". [2011] Federal Judicial Scholarship 7.
- ^ "Beazley, Margaret Joan (1951 - )". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ "Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court To farewell the Honourable Justice Marshall". fedcourt.gov.au. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
