Running a registered union. Rights in return for standards.

1. Check the association can apply. An association of employees is federally registrable if it is a constitutional corporation or some or all of its members are federal system employees, and it has no member outside the permitted classes (employees, including state system employees of WA and some other States; certain independent contractors; officers) (s 18B).
2. Pass a resolution. A majority of members at a general meeting, or an absolute majority of the committee of management, must resolve in favour of registration under the rules (s 19(1)).
3. Apply to the Commission (s 18).
4. The Commission "must grant" the application "if, and only if" the criteria in s 19(1) are met. They include:
   1. it is a genuine association for furthering or protecting its members' interests;
   2. it is free from control or improper influence by an employer;
   3. it has at least 50 members who are employees;
   4. the Commission is satisfied it would meet its obligations under the RO Act and the FW Act;
   5. its rules make the required provision, and its name is not confusingly similar to an existing union's; and
   6. there is no existing union to which its members "could more conveniently belong" and that "would more effectively represent those members" (s 19(1)(j)), unless the Commission accepts an undertaking to avoid demarcation disputes (s 19(2)).
5. Registration happens when the General Manager enters the particulars in the register (s 26).

An enterprise association (a union for one enterprise) has its own route:

1. its criteria include at least 20 employee members, independence from the employer, and support from a majority of those eligible to join (s 20);
2. an association that answers the description of an enterprise association but is not federally registrable as one may still apply under s 19 as an association of employees, if it is federally registrable in that character (Ambulance Employees Association of Western Australia Inc v United Workers' Union [2026] FCAFC 62 at [28]-[29]);
3. in that case the Court quashed the Commission's decisions and ordered it to decide the opposing union's application for summary dismissal according to law (orders 1-3). It did not register the association or decide the s 19 criteria, and the association is not a registered union.

People forming a new union are protected. An employer must not dismiss, injure or discriminate against an employee because the employee supported or took part in registering an association (s 21), and a registered union and its officers must not act to prejudice a person, or penalise a member, for that reason (s 22).

An organisation or person interested, or the Minister, may apply (s 28(1)). The grounds include (s 28(1)):

1. conduct of the union, or a substantial number of members, that has prevented or hindered the achievement of the objects of the RO Act or the FW Act;
2. industrial action, other than protected action, by the union or a substantial number of members that has prevented, hindered or interfered with an employer's activities or a public service;
3. unprotected industrial action that has had, or is likely to have, a substantial adverse effect on the community's safety, health or welfare; and
4. failure to comply with specified court orders, including injunctions against industrial action.

If a ground is established the Court must cancel registration unless it would be "unjust to do so having regard to the degree of gravity of the matters constituting the ground and the action (if any) that has been taken by or against the organisation" (s 28(3)). It may instead alter the eligibility rules to exclude a section of members (s 28(4)), or suspend rights and restrict the use of funds for 6 months, or a longer period the Court orders on application (s 29).

The Commission may cancel registration (s 30(1)):

1. on the union's own application;
2. on application by an interested person or the Minister, if it was registered by mistake, is no longer effectively representative, or is not free from control or improper influence; or
3. on its own motion, if the union is defunct, has fallen below 50 employee members (20 for an enterprise association), or is no longer federally registrable.

The union must be given an opportunity to be heard (s 30(2)). In The Bacon Factories' Union of Employees, Queensland [2023] FWC 2469, a union that had resolved to close, with "no fixed address, no operating branches, no officers", was found defunct and its registration cancelled (at [8]-[9]).

After cancellation the body is no longer a body corporate under the RO Act but remains an association; past liabilities survive; and the members lose the benefit of awards, orders and agreements binding the union, which stop applying to them in all other respects 21 days later (s 32).

The rules must state the union's purposes and its eligibility conditions, and provide for, among other things (s 141(1)):

1. the powers and duties of committees and office holders, and members' control of committees;
2. when people become or cease to be members, and resignation under s 174;
3. the control of property and investment of funds, a yearly audit, and conditions for spending;
4. a register of members, and how the rules are altered;
5. expenditure policies for the union and each branch (s 141(1)(ca)); and
6. telling applicants in writing about the financial obligations of membership and how to resign (s 141(1)(d)).

The rules may provide for removing an elected officer only where the officer has been found guilty under the rules of misappropriation of funds, a substantial breach of the rules, or gross misbehaviour or gross neglect of duty, or has ceased under the rules to be eligible (s 141(1)(c)).

The rules must not, among other things (s 142(1)):

1. be contrary to the RO Act, the FW Act, an award or agreement, or otherwise contrary to law;
2. prevent or hinder members from observing the law or industrial instruments;
3. impose on applicants or members "conditions, obligations or restrictions that ... are oppressive, unreasonable or unjust"; or
4. discriminate on listed grounds such as race, sex, age, disability or political opinion.

1. Try the union's own processes first. A dispute between a union and a member "is to be decided under the rules of the organisation" (s 177(1)), and the Court may refuse to hear a member who has not taken reasonable steps to resolve it inside the union (s 164(3)).
2. Apply to the Federal Court. A member may seek an order declaring a rule invalid (s 163), directions for the performance or observance of the rules by anyone obliged to observe them (s 164), or an order putting the union back where it would have been after an unreasonable breach (s 164A).
3. Costs. A party is not ordered to pay costs unless that party instituted the proceeding vexatiously or without reasonable cause (s 329), and the Minister may authorise financial assistance in some of these applications (ss 324, 326).

Time cuts these claims off. After 4 years, acts of a collective body or office holder purporting to exercise power under the rules, elections and appointments, and rule changes "are taken to have been done in compliance with the rules" (s 320(1)), unless the Court orders otherwise under s 321. In [2024] FCA 304, the regulator's case against a former official about expenditure failed on that ground: "My conclusion concerning the meaning and effect of s 320 of the FWRO Act means that the proceedings must be dismissed" (at [374]). The Court noted the regulator could have sought an order under s 321 (at [373]).

A union is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a person who is eligible to join it under its eligibility rules; the person need not be a member (Regional Express Holdings Ltd v Australian Federation of Air Pilots [2017] HCA 55 at [1], on FW Act s 540(6)). The same words govern right of entry and other FW Act rights, so the eligibility rule is the starting point for each.

Members admitted only under a membership agreement with a State union do not count: the federal union "is not entitled to represent" their industrial interests (s 151(6)).

1. A change of name or of the eligibility rules takes effect only with the Commission's consent, or the General Manager's for an alteration to match a State union for which the union is the federal counterpart (ss 158(1), 158A).
2. The Commission must be satisfied the change was made under the rules (s 158(2)). It must not consent to extending eligibility if there is another union to which the newly eligible people "could more conveniently belong" and which "would more effectively represent" them (s 158(4)), unless it accepts an undertaking to avoid demarcation disputes (s 158(5)). It may refuse where the change would breach a demarcation agreement or risk a serious demarcation dispute (s 158(6)-(8)).
3. Any other rule change takes effect when the General Manager certifies that it complies with the law and was made under the rules (s 159).

A person eligible under the rules "is, unless of general bad character, entitled, subject to payment of any amount properly payable in relation to membership", to be admitted and to remain a member "so long as the person complies with the rules" (s 166(1)). That does not let a person remain after ceasing to be eligible unless the rules allow it (s 166(2)). The Federal Court may declare a person's entitlement to membership (s 167).

1. Outside the permitted classes. Membership "immediately ceases" if the member is not, or is no longer, an employee (including a WA state system employee), an eligible independent contractor or an officer (ss 171A, 18B(3)).
2. Unfinancial for 24 months. The union must remove the member's name and address from the register within 12 months after 24 continuous months of unpaid dues; the person stops being a member when removed (s 172). The rules may provide for earlier cessation.
3. By Federal Court order (s 171).

1. The member gives written notice, "addressed and delivered to a person designated for the purpose in the rules" (s 174(1)). Electronic notice works if the rules allow it (note to s 174(1)).
2. It takes effect, for a member who has stopped being eligible, on the later of the day the union receives it and the day stated in it (not earlier than the day eligibility ended) (s 174(2)(a)).
3. Otherwise it takes effect on the later of 2 weeks after receipt (or a shorter period in the rules) and the day stated in it (s 174(2)(b)).

Mistakes in delivery do not defeat it. A notice the union has received "is not invalid because it was not addressed and delivered in accordance with subsection (1)" (s 174(5)), and a resignation is valid in any case if the union tells the member in writing that it has been accepted (s 174(6)). Stopping a payroll deduction is not a resignation; regulations may require employers to tell employees so (note to s 174(6), s 359).

1. Dues, fees, levies and fines may be sued for as a debt in the union's name (s 177(2)), including dues for the period before a resignation took effect (s 174(3)).
2. But proceedings "must not be commenced after the end of the period of 12 months starting on the day on which the amount became payable", and the amount ceases to be payable if none is started by then (s 178).
3. A person who has stopped being eligible and has not actively taken part in the union since has a defence to a claim for dues from that time, and is treated as having left when eligibility ended (s 179).
4. Nobody, union or employer, may give a member or eligible person information about resignation knowing or reckless that it is false or misleading (s 176; 100 penalty units).

A person whose conscientious beliefs do not allow membership of a union, and who pays the prescribed fee, must be given a certificate by the General Manager for up to 12 months, renewable (s 180).

1. Every office is filled by a direct voting system or a collegiate system (s 143(1)(a)).
2. A returning officer who is not an office holder or employee of the union runs the election, including deciding nominations (s 143(1)(b)), and must give a candidate with a defective nomination a chance to fix it where practicable (s 143(1)(c)).
3. Ballots are secret, and the roll closes no earlier than 30 and no later than 7 days before nominations open (s 143(1)(e), (3)).
4. A direct-voting ballot is a secret postal ballot unless the General Manager grants an exemption (s 144).
5. Terms are no longer than 4 years without re-election, or 5 years to synchronise elections (s 145).

Each election for an office "must be conducted by the AEC", at the Commonwealth's expense (s 182(1)). A union may apply for an exemption to run its own elections, and the General Manager may grant it if satisfied the elections will give members "an adequate opportunity of voting without intimidation" (s 186(1)).

"An organisation or branch commits an offence if it uses, or allows to be used, its property or resources to help a candidate against another candidate" (s 190; 100 penalty units). Interfering with ballot papers, threats, bribery and breaching the secrecy of the vote are also offences (s 195).

1. Who may apply. A member, or a person who was a member within the previous 12 months, who claims an irregularity in an election for an office (s 200(1)). The Electoral Commissioner may, and sometimes must, apply (s 200(2)-(3)).
2. What an irregularity is. It includes a breach of the rules, an act or omission that prevents or hinders the full and free recording of votes or a correct result, and a contravention of s 190 (s 6).
3. The Court decides whether there are reasonable grounds and, if so, institutes an inquiry (s 201). It may authorise the General Manager to take possession of election documents (s 202) and make interim orders (s 204).
4. The Court decides on the balance of probabilities whether an irregularity happened (s 206(2)). It may declare an election void, declare who was elected, or order a new election (s 206(4)).
5. But it must not void an election or unseat a person unless "the result of the election may have been affected, or may be affected, by irregularities" (s 206(5)).

In Clancy, in the matter of an application for an inquiry in relation to an election for offices in the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation [2017] FCA 460, an application about an election for national offices of a nurses' union, the Court asked whether a union journal published during the election was, on an objective reading, electioneering material, found it was not, and found no reasonable grounds for an inquiry (at [93], [95]-[96]). It added that the applicant had not shown the result "may, as a matter of practical reality, have been affected" (at [97]-[98]).

A prescribed offence includes (s 212):

1. an offence involving fraud or dishonesty punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more;
2. listed RO Act offences, including election offences and the criminal duties offences (s 290A);
3. other offences about forming, registering or managing a union, if on indictment (s 213); and
4. offences involving intentional violence, death or injury, or intentional damage to property, if the person was sentenced to imprisonment (s 213).

The consequences:

1. A person convicted cannot be a candidate, or be elected or appointed to office, during the exclusion period, generally 5 years, unless the Federal Court gives leave or shortens it (ss 213A, 215(1), 216).
2. An office holder who is convicted "ceases to hold the office at the end of the period of 28 days after the conviction unless, within the period, the person makes an application to the Federal Court" for leave (s 215(2)), and loses office anyway if the application is not decided within 3 months, unless extended (s 215(3)-(4)).
3. The union, a member or the General Manager may ask the Court to declare whether a person is ineligible or has lost office (s 215(5)).

Separately, the Court may disqualify a person who has contravened a civil penalty provision from holding office for the period it considers appropriate (s 307A).

The general duties apply to officers and employees only to the extent they relate to the financial management of the union or branch (s 283).

Each carries a civil penalty of 100 penalty units, or 1,200 for a serious contravention. A serious contravention is one that materially prejudices the union, its members or its ability to pay its creditors, or "is serious" (s 6).

1. The business judgment rule. An officer who makes a judgment in good faith for a proper purpose, without a material personal interest, adequately informed, and rationally believing it to be in the union's best interests, is taken to meet the care and diligence duty for that judgment (s 285(2)).
2. Criminal offences. Recklessly or with intentional dishonesty failing to act in good faith or for a proper purpose, and dishonest use of position or information, carry 2,000 penalty units or 5 years' imprisonment (s 290A).
3. Training. An officer whose duties include financial duties must complete training approved by the General Manager within 6 months after starting in the office, unless exempted. The obligation and penalty fall on the union or branch (s 293K).
4. Disclosure. Officers must disclose remuneration and material personal interests, and unions must disclose certain payments, in annual statements (ss 293B-293J).

The Federal Court has said the union setting matters: the context in which these provisions apply to union officers "is very different to the context in which analogous provisions found in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) fall for application" ([2024] FCA 304 at [3]).

1. Who sues. The General Manager or a person authorised in writing (s 310(1)), and, for a CFMEU Construction and General Division officer or employee, also the administrator (s 310(1A)). A union may apply for compensation and may intervene (s 310(3)-(4)).
2. Orders. Pecuniary penalties, up to five times the individual maximum for a body corporate (s 306(1)); compensation to the union for damage from a breach of the duties (s 307); disqualification (s 307A); and other orders (s 308).
3. Branches. A contravention by a branch or reporting unit is treated as the union's (s 305(3)).
4. Relief. The Court may excuse a person who "has acted honestly" and "ought fairly to be excused", even before proceedings start (s 315).
5. Costs. A party pays costs only if that party instituted the proceeding vexatiously or without reasonable cause (s 329).

The High Court has held that a court imposing a pecuniary penalty under FW Act s 546 may order the person penalised to pay it personally, and that s 545(1) gives no power to order the union not to indemnify the person (Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v CFMEU [2018] HCA 3 at [44], [49], Kiefel CJ). A personal payment order "adds only to the effect which is felt by a contravener: the penalty ordered remains the same" (at [44]).

A union's decision to pay is still a decision of its officers, and the RO Act bears on it in these ways:

1. spending must be within the rules and the expenditure policies the rules must require (s 141(1)(ca));
2. if the payment is a loan, grant or donation of more than $1,000, the rules that s 149(1) requires apply: the committee of management must be satisfied it accords with the rules and approve it;
3. a payment to an officer, who is a related party (s 9B(2)), must be disclosed in the annual disclosure statement unless an exception applies (s 293G(1), (3)); and
4. the officers who decide owe the duties in ss 285 to 287, and the business judgment rule protects only a judgment made "in good faith for a proper purpose" (s 285(2)(a)).

No provision of the RO Act deals with a union paying an official's penalty, and no decision settles whether paying one is a proper purpose under ss 285 to 287.

A current or former officer, employee or member, or a supplier or contractor, who discloses information to the General Manager, the Commission, the Fair Work Ombudsman or the CFMEU administrator, or to their own lawyer, with reasonable grounds to suspect it shows misconduct by the union or its officers or employees, is protected (s 337A). The disclosure is not actionable (s 337B), and reprisals are prohibited, with compensation, injunctions, reinstatement and other remedies available (ss 337BA, 337BB).

1. A register of members (name and postal address), lists of offices and office holders, and other prescribed records, with the register updated within 28 days of a change (s 230). A copy of the register as at 31 December each year is kept for 7 years (s 231).
2. Financial records that correctly record and explain the reporting unit's transactions and financial position (s 252).

1. After the end of each financial year, prepare a general purpose financial report under the Australian Accounting Standards that gives "a true and fair view" (s 253), and an operating report that includes members' right to resign (s 254(2)).
2. Have it audited by a registered auditor (ss 255A-264).
3. Give members, free, the full report or, if the committee of management so resolves under the rules, a concise report. If a general meeting to consider it is held within 6 months after year end, this must be done by 21 days before that meeting; otherwise within 5 months after year end (s 265(1)-(5)). The General Manager may extend by up to one month (s 265(5)).
4. Present the full report to a general meeting within 6 months after year end, or, if the rules let up to 5% of members call a general meeting for the purpose, to a committee of management meeting (s 266).
5. Lodge the reports and a designated officer's certificate with the Commission within 14 days after that meeting (s 268).

A reporting unit that is the whole union, with income not over $100,000, (or a higher prescribed amount) may obtain a certificate allowing a simplified report (s 270). The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Reporting System Reform) Act 2026 (Cth) amends the RO Act from 1 December 2026; those amendments were not in force on the date this page was checked.

1. A member, or the General Manager at a member's request, may apply in writing for prescribed information, giving at least 14 days to provide it (s 272).
2. A member may ask the Commission to order inspection of financial records. The Commission may order it only if satisfied the member is acting in good faith, there are reasonable grounds to suspect a breach of the financial reporting rules, and inspection can reasonably be expected to help (s 273).
3. An officer, or a former officer for 7 years, may inspect the books for legal proceedings to which the officer is or expects to be a party (s 280).

1. Inquiries. The General Manager may inquire into compliance with the financial reporting rules and whether a civil penalty provision has been contravened, but "cannot compel a person to assist with the inquiries" (s 330).
2. Investigations. The General Manager may investigate if satisfied there are reasonable grounds to do so (s 331). The Full Court has held the test "is not expressed in terms of, at least, a reasonable suspicion of a contravention" (Registered Organisations Commissioner v Australian Workers' Union [2020] FCAFC 202 at [111], Besanko J).
3. Members can require one. Once the reports are lodged, at least 250 members (where the reporting unit has more than 5,000) or 5% of members (otherwise) may request an investigation of the finances and financial administration, and the General Manager "must investigate", and may look beyond the latest year (s 333).
4. Afterwards. If a contravention is found, the General Manager may issue a rectification notice, apply to the Federal Court for penalties, or refer the matter for prosecution (s 336).

1. Each union's committee of management approves a scheme (ss 40-42).
2. The unions apply jointly to the Commission for approval to put the amalgamation to a ballot, with an outline of no more than 3,000 words (s 44).
3. The Commission approves the ballot if satisfied of the matters in s 55 (or ss 56-57 where eligibility is extended).
4. On its application (s 46), the Commission must exempt the proposed amalgamated union from a ballot where the people who could be admitted because of the amalgamation are no more than 25% of its members, unless special circumstances justify refusal (s 63).
5. The AEC conducts a secret postal ballot of each union's members (s 65). It is approved if more than 50% of formal votes are in favour and, unless a community of interest declaration is in force, at least 25% of members on the roll voted (s 66).
6. On the amalgamation day fixed by the Commission, the members of the deregistering unions become members of the amalgamated union without an entrance fee (s 73). Assets, liabilities, awards and agreements carry across (ss 74-79).

The object is to allow unions that amalgamated "to be reconstituted and re-registered", and their branches to become unions, in a way that is fair to members and creditors (s 92).

1. Timing. An application for a ballot may be made only if the amalgamation occurred "no less than 2 years prior to the date of the application" and the application is made "before the period of 5 years after the amalgamation occurred has elapsed" (s 94(1)). It cannot be made within 12 months after a rejected application, or after a ballot rejected withdrawal (s 94(2)).
2. Who applies. The prescribed number of financial constituent members, a committee elected entirely or substantially by them, or a person they authorise (s 94(3), (5)).
3. The ballot order. The Commission "must order" a secret postal ballot if satisfied the application is validly made and its outline "is a fair and accurate representation of the proposal" (s 100(1)).
4. Giving effect. If more than 50% of formal votes favour withdrawal, the Federal Court fixes the day, apportions assets and liabilities, and makes other orders (s 109).

The amalgamated union must not penalise members for supporting withdrawal (s 131).

Schedule 3 to the RO Act made special provision, in 2024, for an application to withdraw the CFMEU's Manufacturing Division. In Application by Michael O'Connor - withdrawal from amalgamated organisation - Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union - Manufacturing Division [2025] FWCFB 14, a Full Bench presided over by the President, deciding on the papers after the union withdrew its objection, said "we are required to order that a ballot take place" (at [43]). The outcome of the ballot is not stated on this page.

1. The union, a member or another person with a sufficient interest applies to the Federal Court (s 323(1)).
2. The Court may declare that a branch or collective body "has ceased to exist or function effectively and there are no effective means under the rules ... by which it can be reconstituted or enabled to function effectively", or that an office is vacant with no effective means to fill it (s 323(1)).
3. It may then approve a scheme to reconstitute the body, enable it to function or fill the office (s 323(2)-(3)). The order has effect despite the rules (s 323(6)), and any election under it must be by a direct voting or collegiate system (s 323(7)).
4. It must be satisfied the order "would not do substantial injustice to the organisation or any member" (s 323(4)).

In [2012] FCA 644, a case about a health union's branch, Flick J said of the power, "The width of the powers should not be doubted" (at [33]).

The Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Act 2024 (Cth) was enacted on 22 August 2024 and, from 23 August 2024, inserted Part 2A of Chapter 11 (ss 323A-323T) into the RO Act ([2025] HCA 25 at [1], Gageler CJ). What the Act and the decision show:

1. The Division and each of its branches were placed under administration "by force of" s 323A(1) once a ministerial scheme and an administrator's appointment were both in force. The Attorney-General determined the scheme, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) (CFMEU Construction and General Division Administration) Determination 2024, and the General Manager appointed the administrator; the administration began on 23 August 2024 (at [4], [7]).
2. It ends on the fifth anniversary of the day it began unless ended sooner (s 323A(2)). The Minister must not end a branch's administration or revoke the scheme before the third anniversary unless the administrator gives written notice that the branch, or the Division and each branch, is functioning lawfully and effectively (s 323D(2A)).
3. The scheme and actions under it have effect despite the RO Act, Part 2-4 of the FW Act and the CFMEU's rules (s 323F). The administrator "has control of the property and affairs" of the Division and its branches (s 323K(1)) and must act in the members' best interests, having regard to the union's lawful objects (s 323K(5)).
4. A "removed person", meaning a person removed or suspended as an officer, employee or workplace delegate of the Division as a result of the scheme, or who left one of those roles by choice from 1 July 2024 in the circumstances in s 323MA(2), must not stand for or be appointed to office in any registered union, or start to be employed or engaged by one, without a certificate from the Commission (ss 323MA, 323MB; 600 penalty units). The Commission may grant a certificate to hold office if satisfied the person is a fit and proper person to hold office, having regard to the matters in s 323MC(3).
5. The High Court answered "No" to each question challenging the validity of Part 2A, the related FW Act provision, the amending Act and the scheme, including questions on the head of power, the implied freedom of political communication, Chapter III of the Constitution and acquisition of property ([2025] HCA 25, order of 18 June 2025).

This page states the public record only. It makes no comment on the conduct that led to the administration or on how the administration will end.