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Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) Part 2-4 · AE523557 · AE533958

Bargaining for WA Catholic and independent school staff, and what is on the public record.

How agreements are made and replaced in the Fair Work system, how the Catholic teachers’ and support staff agreements were bargained and approved, and how independent schools bargain. No view on any round of bargaining.

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16 February 2027the CEWA teachers’ agreement reaches nominal expiry
1 September 2030the CEWA support staff agreement reaches nominal expiry
28 September 2023the support staff single interest employer authorisation was made
Teachers and support staff sit among library shelves listening to a speaker

Next step 16 February 2027: the CEWA teachers’ agreement reaches its nominal expiry and continues to operate until it is replaced or terminated (cl 4.2). Its pay is tied to the public school teachers’ agreement, whose term expires on 5 December 2026 (SCH013 cl 5.1).

Key dates

DateEventSource
31 March 2021Single interest employer authorisation for the Catholic employers' teaching staff made (PR728298)PR751277, order A
26 July 2021Notification time for the teachers' agreementApplication by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [2]
1 September 2022 and 28 February 2023Teachers' authorisation extended, finally to 31 December 2023PR745390; PR751277, order A
28 September 2023Single interest employer authorisation for support staff made, on the union's applicationIndependent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177 at [1], [36]; PR766654
3 November 2023Teachers' agreement madeApplication by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [2]
16 February 2024Teachers' agreement approved; operates from 23 February 2024Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [19]
13 May 2026Support staff agreement madeApplication by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [2]
1 September 2026Support staff agreement approved (reissued 2 September 2026 with the title added); operates from 8 September 2026Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [9] and reissue note
5 December 2026Expiry of the term of the public school teachers' agreement, to which Catholic teachers' pay is tiedSCH013 cl 5.1
16 February 2027Nominal expiry of the Catholic teachers' agreementAE523557 cl 4.2; Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [19]
1 September 2030Nominal expiry of the Catholic support staff agreementApplication by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [9]
31 March 2021Event: Single interest employer authorisation for the Catholic employers' teaching staff made (PR728298)
Source
PR751277, order A
26 July 2021Event: Notification time for the teachers' agreement
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [2]
1 September 2022 and 28 February 2023Event: Teachers' authorisation extended, finally to 31 December 2023
Source
PR745390; PR751277, order A
28 September 2023Event: Single interest employer authorisation for support staff made, on the union's application
Source
Independent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177 at [1], [36]; PR766654
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3 November 2023Event: Teachers' agreement made
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [2]
16 February 2024Event: Teachers' agreement approved; operates from 23 February 2024
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [19]
13 May 2026Event: Support staff agreement made
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [2]
1 September 2026Event: Support staff agreement approved (reissued 2 September 2026 with the title added); operates from 8 September 2026
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [9] and reissue note
5 December 2026Event: Expiry of the term of the public school teachers' agreement, to which Catholic teachers' pay is tied
Source
SCH013 cl 5.1
16 February 2027Event: Nominal expiry of the Catholic teachers' agreement
Source
AE523557 cl 4.2; Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [19]
1 September 2030Event: Nominal expiry of the Catholic support staff agreement
Source
Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [9]

The short version

Catholic school staff in WA bargain as a group.

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  • Catholic employers, led by CEWA Ltd, make one multi-enterprise agreement for teachers and one for support staff, each bargained under a single interest employer authorisation from the Fair Work Commission (the teachers' authorisation, as amended after one employer's 2023 restructure, covered the employers in the teachers' agreement).
  • The teachers' authorisation was made in 2021 on the employers' side; the support staff authorisation was made in 2023 on the union's application, the first consideration of the single interest employer provisions as amended from 6 June 2023.

A multi-enterprise agreement can be put to a vote only if every union bargaining representative agrees in writing, or the Commission makes a voting request order. The support staff agreement was approved in September 2026.

The Catholic teachers' agreement reaches its nominal expiry on 16 February 2027 and continues until replaced. Its pay is tied to the public school teachers' agreement, whose term expires on 5 December 2026.

Independent schools bargain school by school.

This page describes the law and the published record. It takes no view on any round of bargaining.

How bargaining works in the Fair Work system

Kinds of agreement
  1. Single-enterprise agreements. An employer, or related employers, may make an agreement with their employees (FW Act s 172(2)). Any independent school can bargain this way.
  2. Multi-enterprise agreements, covering two or more unrelated employers. The two Catholic agreements are of this kind.
Who bargains
  1. Each employer that will be covered is a bargaining representative (FW Act s 176(1)(a)).
  2. A union is the bargaining representative of each of its members who will be covered, unless the member appoints someone else or revokes the union's status (s 176(1)(b)).
  3. An employee may appoint anyone in writing as their bargaining representative (s 176(1)(c)).
The single interest employer stream
  1. Who may apply. Either the employers, or a bargaining representative of an employee who will be covered, may apply to the Commission for a single interest employer authorisation for an agreement that will cover two or more employers (FW Act s 248(1)).
  2. When it must be made. The Commission "must" make it if the tests in s 249(1) are met (s 249). They include:
    1. at least some of the employees are represented by a union (s 249(1)(b)(i));
    2. on a bargaining representative's application, each employer has consented or is covered by s 249(1B) (s 249(1)(b)(iv));
    3. the employers have clearly identifiable common interests, and their operations are reasonably comparable (s 249(1)(b)(v)–(vi), (3)).
  3. Presumptions. On a bargaining representative's application, an employer with 50 or more employees is presumed to have operations reasonably comparable with the others unless the contrary is proved (s 249(1AA)), and is presumed to meet the common interest and public interest requirements (s 249(3AB)).
The supported bargaining stream

A supported bargaining authorisation is available where it is appropriate for employers and employees to bargain together, having regard to matters including prevailing pay and conditions in the sector and whether the employers have clearly identifiable common interests (FW Act s 243(1)).

  • A common interest may include being "substantially funded, directly or indirectly, by the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory" (s 243(2)(c)).
  • No supported bargaining application for WA non-government schools was found in the research for this guide.
Putting a multi-enterprise agreement to a vote
  1. An employer must not ask employees to vote on a proposed multi-enterprise agreement unless each bargaining representative that is a union has given the employer written agreement to the request, or a voting request order permits it (FW Act s 180A(1)–(2)).
  2. After the notification time, a bargaining representative may apply for a voting request order if each union bargaining representative has been asked for written agreement and one or more has not given it (s 240A(1)).
  3. The Commission must make the order if satisfied that, for each union that has not given written agreement, the failure "was unreasonable in the circumstances", and that the request would not be inconsistent with or undermine good faith bargaining (s 240B).
  4. A multi-enterprise agreement is made once employees of each employer have voted, if a majority of those who voted at at least one of the employers approve it (FW Act s 182(2)).
Approval

After an agreement is made, the Commission decides whether to approve it, including whether employees would be better off overall than under the relevant modern award.

  • A union bargaining representative may put its view on that test, and the Commission may accept undertakings from the employer to meet a concern (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [3]–[5], [15], [17]).
  • For the Catholic teachers, the comparator award is the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020; for support staff, the Educational Services (Schools) General Staff Award 2020.
Protected industrial action

Industrial action in support of claims for a proposed agreement is protected only if:

  1. it is authorised by a protected action ballot (FW Act s 409(1)–(2));
  2. the bargaining representative is genuinely trying to reach an agreement; and
  3. notice has been given (s 413(3)–(4)).

For a multi-enterprise agreement the notice must be at least 120 hours, and it cannot be given until the ballot results are declared (s 414(1)–(3)). Employees covered by an enterprise agreement cannot take protected action before its nominal expiry date has passed (s 413(6), s 417(1)), and none can be taken while a suspension or termination order or an intractable bargaining declaration is in operation (s 413(7)).

Other ways an impasse can be dealt with

Besides a voting request order, the Act provides protected industrial action (Part 3-3), an application for the Commission's help with a bargaining dispute (FW Act s 240) and, where its conditions are met, an intractable bargaining declaration (s 235).

Bargaining for Catholic teachers

The 2021 to 2023 round

  1. The authorisation.
    1. The Catholic employers bargained for teachers under a single interest employer authorisation made on 31 March 2021, before the 2023 amendments, and later amended to reflect one employer's restructure into two companies (Independent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177 at [21]–[22]; PR728298; PR751277, order A).
    2. In making it, the Commission was satisfied that the employers "had agreed to bargain together" under the law as it then stood (IEU v CEWA [2023] FWCFB 177 at [21]).
    3. It was extended on 1 September 2022 to 30 March 2023 (PR745390) and on 28 February 2023 to 31 December 2023 (PR751277, order A).
  2. The agreement was made on 3 November 2023, after a notification time of 26 July 2021, so the pre-6 June 2023 genuine agreement rules and the post-6 June 2023 better off overall test applied (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [2]).
  3. Approval. Three better off overall test concerns were raised by a bargaining representative ([3]–[4]):
    1. no redundancy entitlement where a part-time teacher's hours are reduced by more than 25% without consent, which was met by the employer's undertaking ([4]–[5]);
    2. the exclusion of yearly timetables and staff calendars from consultation, on which the Commission approved the agreement on the stated basis that the consultation steps must be followed where a new timetable or calendar changes a teacher's regular roster or ordinary hours ([10]–[12]);
    3. part-time teachers working over 90% of full-time hours not being converted to full-time as under the award, which the Commission found was outweighed overall ([13]–[14]).
  4. The agreement was approved on 16 February 2024, operates from 23 February 2024, and has a nominal expiry date of 16 February 2027 ([19]). It covers the IEUA ([18]).
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How the teachers' pay moves

The WA Catholic School Teachers Enterprise Agreement 2023 (AE523557) prints salaries to 6 December 2023, and then ties increases to the public school teachers' agreement.

  1. "During the term of the Agreement", salaries and the listed allowances "will be increased at the same time and by the same quantum as increases paid to" Department of Education teachers under their registered agreement (cl 7.1(c), PDF p 15).
  2. The 3% from 6 December 2023 was "based on the anticipated percentage increase" for Department of Education teachers. If those teachers received more than 3% from that date, Catholic teachers "will be paid the difference in percentage salary increase from the time the increase is paid to Department of Education teachers" (cl 7.1(b)).
  3. The public school teachers' agreement's term expires on 5 December 2026, and it continues in force until replaced (SCH013 cl 5.1). Its bargaining is in the WA state system; see the WA teachers guide.

The pay figures that result are set out on the agreement and pay page of this guide.

The next round

  1. The teachers' agreement's nominal expiry date is 16 February 2027. It "shall continue to operate beyond the nominal expiry date until it is replaced or terminated in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)" (cl 4.2, PDF p 11).
  2. The agreement says: "Negotiations for a replacement agreement will commence six (6) months before the nominal expiry date of this agreement" (cl 4.3).

This guide does not report on bargaining for a replacement agreement and takes no view on it.

Bargaining for Catholic support staff

The authorisation

  1. In 2023 the IEUA, acting through its WA Branch, applied for a single interest employer authorisation for a proposed multi-enterprise agreement for support, operations and general staff of ten WA Catholic education employers, in registered schools and their early childhood services, excluding registered teachers (Independent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177 at [1]–[3]). Every employer supported the application ([4]).
  2. It was the first consideration of the single interest provisions as amended by the Secure Jobs, Better Pay amendments, which commenced on 6 June 2023, so it went to a Full Bench and interested organisations were invited to make submissions ([5]).
  3. The Full Bench described the path as "relatively straightforward", because every employer consented and each had 50 or more employees, so the presumptions applied ([23], [28]–[29], [33]). It would also have found common interests without them: all the employers run WA schools registered under the School Education Act 1999 (WA), employ staff under the General Staff Award, give Roman Catholic religious instruction and receive Commonwealth and State funding ([30], [32], [34]).
  4. The authorisation was made, operating from 28 September 2023 ([36]; PR766654). On the union's applications, with the employers' support, it was extended to 28 March 2025 (PR778679 at [1], [4]) and then to 28 June 2025 (PR784938 at [1], [5]), the last extension found for this guide.
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The agreement

  1. The agreement was made on 13 May 2026, after a notification time of 28 September 2023, so the post-6 June 2023 rules applied throughout (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [2]).
  2. On approval the Commission inserted the General Staff Award's workplace delegates' rights term under s 205A ([4]), examined and resolved a concern that ineligible casuals might have voted ([5]), and accepted undertakings ([6]–[7]).
  3. The agreement covers the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the IEUA and the United Workers Union ([8]). It operates from 8 September 2026 and has a nominal expiry date of 1 September 2030 ([9]).
  4. Pay. Increases follow "the same percentage rate as increases paid to commensurate Employees" under the Department of Education's equivalent WAIRC agreement, "as determined by CEWA" (AE533958 cl 34).

The union's role under the Catholic agreements

  1. The IEUA is the registered organisation. It is covered by both Catholic agreements, having notified the Commission that it wished to be covered (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [18]; Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [8]).
  2. The teachers' agreement gives the union coverage, a seat on the Joint Consultative Committee (up to four representatives each side, meeting once a term) and lets any party to a dispute appoint a representative of their choice (AE523557 cl 14.8, 15.2, 15.4). It has no workplace delegates' clause.
  3. The support staff agreement has its own workplace delegates' clause, including representation in consultation, disputes and disciplinary processes (AE533958 cl 65.5), and on approval the Commission inserted the General Staff Award's delegates' rights clause under s 205A (Application by CEWA [2026] FWCA 2400 at [4]).
  4. Workplace delegates have statutory rights under FW Act s 350C; an employer that complies with the delegates' rights term in the applicable agreement is taken to have afforded them (s 350C(4)). Federal right of entry for permit holders is in Part 3-4 of the FW Act.
  5. Disputes under the teachers' agreement go first to discussion at the school, then to the Fair Work Commission, which must first try mediation or conciliation and may then arbitrate (AE523557 cl 14.2–14.7; FW Act s 739(4)). Work continues while a dispute is resolved (cl 14.9).

Bargaining at independent schools

(a) Independent schools bargain one school, or one school system, at a time. No multi-enterprise or supported bargaining agreement for WA independent schools was found in the research for this guide.

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(b) The union is the default bargaining representative for its members (FW Act s 176(1)(b)), and so are other unions for theirs. In 2012 Fair Work Australia refused to approve an independent school's non-teaching staff agreement because two other unions with members at the school were bargaining representatives by default but were never told so (Application by Hale School [2012] FWA 5980 at [21]–[22], [24]–[25]). That refusal turned on a version of s 187(2) that has since been narrowed; the point that unions are default bargaining representatives for their members still stands.

(c) Examples of federal agreements approved for WA independent schools that cover the IEU, with their nominal expiry dates:

AgreementEmployerNominal expiry
Anglican Schools Commission Incorporated Western Australian Agreement 2019 (AE503221)The Anglican Schools Commission Inc (teachers)8 May 2022
AngliSchools WA Support Staff Enterprise Agreement (AE532564)The Anglican Schools Commission Inc trading as AngliSchools (support staff)31 December 2028
Swan Christian Education Association Inc. Teachers' Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE527108)Swan Christian Education Association Inc31 December 2027
Lake Joondalup Baptist College Inc. Teachers Enterprise Agreement (AE523590)Lake Joondalup Baptist College Inc27 February 2027
Kingsway Christian Education Association Inc. Teachers Enterprise Bargaining Agreement 2025-2028 (AE530621)Kingsway Christian Education Association Inc31 December 2028
Christ Church Grammar School Inc Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE529196)Christ Church Grammar School Inc31 December 2027
Hale School (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) 2024 (AE527640)Governors of Hale School12 February 2028
St Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Inc) Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE526021)St Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Inc)31 December 2028
Anglican Schools Commission Incorporated Western Australian Agreement 2019 (AE503221)Employer: The Anglican Schools Commission Inc (teachers)
Nominal expiry
8 May 2022
AngliSchools WA Support Staff Enterprise Agreement (AE532564)Employer: The Anglican Schools Commission Inc trading as AngliSchools (support staff)
Nominal expiry
31 December 2028
Swan Christian Education Association Inc. Teachers' Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE527108)Employer: Swan Christian Education Association Inc
Nominal expiry
31 December 2027
Lake Joondalup Baptist College Inc. Teachers Enterprise Agreement (AE523590)Employer: Lake Joondalup Baptist College Inc
Nominal expiry
27 February 2027
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Kingsway Christian Education Association Inc. Teachers Enterprise Bargaining Agreement 2025-2028 (AE530621)Employer: Kingsway Christian Education Association Inc
Nominal expiry
31 December 2028
Christ Church Grammar School Inc Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE529196)Employer: Christ Church Grammar School Inc
Nominal expiry
31 December 2027
Hale School (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) 2024 (AE527640)Employer: Governors of Hale School
Nominal expiry
12 February 2028
St Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Inc) Enterprise Agreement 2025 (AE526021)Employer: St Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Inc)
Nominal expiry
31 December 2028

(d) An enterprise agreement's nominal expiry date is not the end of the agreement. The Catholic teachers' agreement, for example, says it continues to operate until replaced or terminated under the FW Act (AE523557 cl 4.2); check the wording of your own school's agreement.

The WA state system, briefly

  1. Before 2020. Until 1 January 2020, Catholic school staff in the Archdiocese of Perth were employed by the Archbishop, who was not a trading or financial corporation, so they were in the WA state system and bargained for agreements registered in the WAIRC (Amy Bauer v Xavier Catholic Primary School [2015] FWC 4334 at [2]–[4]; on the change of employer from 1 January 2020, see the parties' submissions in Theresa Edmonds v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2021] FWC 3369 at [17], [19]).
  2. Fee-charging schools. The WAIRC has held fee-charging schools to be trading corporations, and so in the federal system, including in 2025 for a school run by an incorporated association, although both parties to that application argued it was not (The Independent Education Union of Western Australia, Union of Employees v The Moerlina School Inc. [2025] WAIRC 00150 at [8], [37], [39]–[44]; Michelle Hughes v Al-Hidayah Islamic Education Administration Incorporated trading as Al-Hidayah Islamic School [2009] WAIRC 00967 at [16]–[17]).
  3. What remains.
    1. A school employer that is not a trading or financial corporation would still be in the WA system.
    2. The union is party to many WAIRC agreements that are still listed as in force, but being listed does not show that any employer is in the WA system today.
    3. The most recent, the Quintilian School agreement (QUI013), expired on 31 January 2026 and applies until replaced (cl 7(1), 8).
  4. How WA system agreements work.
    1. A WAIRC agreement continues in force after its expiry date until replaced, and any party may retire from it by notice filed at any time after, or within 30 days before, its expiry (Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) s 41(6)–(7)).
    2. There is no protected industrial action in the WA system; disputes go to conferences and orders before the WAIRC.

For unions and industrial officers

The same research agent can work through your members' agreement, its history in the Commission, and the decisions on it.

Decided cases

What the Commission and the courts decided.

Published decisions, retold in plain English from the decision itself. Each links to the full text. Lawcaptain did not act in these cases.

Authorisation made; agreement approvedFair Work Commission Full Bench · 28 September 2023

The CEWA support staff agreement: authorised in 2023, approved in September 2026

Support staff of ten WA Catholic education employers bargained for one multi-enterprise agreement. The Commission authorised that bargaining in September 2023, and the resulting agreement was approved in September 2026. It runs to 2030.

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The round has two published decisions at its start and end.

(a) The authorisation, 2023. The Independent Education Union of Australia applied for a single interest employer authorisation, to bargain one multi-enterprise agreement for support, operations and general staff of ten WA Catholic education employers: CEWA, John XXIII College, Loreto Nedlands, Mazenod College, Mercy Education, the Norbertine Canons, Servite College Council and three Edmund Rice and Marist entities (IEU v CEWA [2023] FWCFB 177 at [1]-[2]). Registered teachers were excluded ([3]). Every employer supported it ([4]). It was the first application under the provisions as amended from 6 June 2023, so a Full Bench heard it ([5]). Because every employer consented and each had 50 or more employees, the pathway was "relatively straightforward" ([23]), and the authorisation was made, operating from 28 September 2023 ([8], [36]).

(b) The approval, 2026. The WA Catholic School Support Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024 was made on 13 May 2026 and approved with undertakings; it operates from 8 September 2026, with a nominal expiry date of 1 September 2030 (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [2], [6]-[7], [9]). The Deputy President inserted the General Staff Award's delegates' rights clause under s 205A ([4]). The agreement covers the ANMF, the IEUA and the UWU ([8]).

In the decision's words: "The pathway is relatively straightforward where, as stated in the SAF here, the respondent employers consent to the application and each of them has 50 employees or more." (IEU v CEWA [2023] FWCFB 177 at [23]).

What it means for you

A multi-enterprise agreement can be put to a vote only with the written agreement of each union bargaining representative or under a voting request order (FW Act s 180A, s 240B). The current agreement is the WA Catholic School Support Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024 (AE533958).

Outcome: Single interest employer authorisation made (2023); the WA Catholic School Support Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024 approved with undertakings (2026). Also: approval of the resulting agreement, Application by CEWA [2026] FWCA 2400 (1 September 2026, reissued 2 September 2026).

Independent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177
Questions

The things people ask.

When does the Catholic teachers' agreement expire?

Its nominal expiry date is 16 February 2027 (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2024] FWCA 622 at [19]; AE523557 cl 4.2).

  • It continues to operate after that date until it is replaced or terminated under the FW Act (cl 4.2).
  • The agreement says negotiations for a replacement "will commence six (6) months before the nominal expiry date" (cl 4.3).

Why does the public school agreement matter to Catholic teachers?

Because the Catholic teachers' agreement ties pay to it. During its term, salaries and listed allowances increase "at the same time and by the same quantum" as increases paid to Department of Education teachers under their registered agreement (AE523557 cl 7.1(c)). The public school agreement's term expires on 5 December 2026 (SCH013 cl 5.1).

What is a single interest employer authorisation?

An order of the Fair Work Commission that lets two or more employers with clearly identifiable common interests bargain together for one agreement.

  • Since the 2023 amendments, either the employers or a bargaining representative such as a union can apply (FW Act s 248(1)), and the Commission must make it if the tests in s 249 are met.
  • The Catholic support staff authorisation of 28 September 2023 was the first consideration of the amended provisions (Independent Education Union of Australia v Catholic Education Western Australia Limited and others [2023] FWCFB 177 at [5], [36]).

What is a voting request order?

For a multi-enterprise agreement, the employer cannot put the agreement to a vote unless every union bargaining representative agrees in writing, or the Commission makes a voting request order (FW Act s 180A). The Commission must make the order if it is satisfied that a union's failure to agree was unreasonable in the circumstances and the vote would not undermine good faith bargaining (s 240B).

Who is covered by the Catholic support staff agreement?

All support, operations and general staff of CEWA Ltd and eight other Catholic employers in registered schools, early learning centres and outside school hours care, but not registered teachers (AE533958 cl 2.1–2.3, Sch 1).

  • Three unions are covered: the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the IEUA and the United Workers Union (Application by Catholic Education Western Australia Limited [2026] FWCA 2400 at [8]).
  • It operates from 8 September 2026 to a nominal expiry date of 1 September 2030 ([9]).

Can independent school staff take protected industrial action?

In the federal system, industrial action in support of claims for a proposed agreement can be protected if it is authorised by a protected action ballot, the bargaining representative is genuinely trying to reach agreement and the required notice is given (FW Act s 409, s 413, s 414), and only after any enterprise agreement covering the employees has passed its nominal expiry date (s 417). There is no equivalent in the WA state system.

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We use our software to generate this content with AI assistance. General information about the law, not legal advice. Last checked 4 November 2026.