Unions and employer associations must have rules which meet standards set out in the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (RO Act). To make it easier for organisations when they are making rule alterations, the Registered Organisations Governance and Compliance External Review recommended we produce a set of Model Rules.
We have now published two sets of Model Rules for registered organisations, following intensive consultation and collaboration with a range of stakeholders. Our model rules are designed to reduce the regulatory burden, making it faster, more efficient and cheaper to develop new rule books or make amendments to existing rule books. We want to acknowledge and thank our stakeholders for helping us achieve these significant outcomes.
There are separate model rule books for:
- organisations with branches, and
- organisations without branches.
There is also a guidance note to explain how to use the Model Rules to:
- understand better practice examples of individual rules
- explain the importance of particular rules and the law around them
- help organisations better understand their existing rules and how they meet the legal requirements, and
- give organisations a place to start their research when they want to introduce a new rule.
You can access the rule books on the Rules for unions and employer associations page. They are also available below with the guidance note:
- Federated rule book (pdf)
- Federated rule book (doc)
- Unitary rule book (pdf)
- Unitary rule book (doc)
- Model Rules for Registered Organisations: User Guide (pdf)
In addition to the rule content, each rule book has extensive expert annotation. The annotation makes accessible a century of case law, the complex rules requirements and guides everyday users through some of the intricacies of rules law. Compliance officers and new rule users alike will appreciate the expertise and guidance found in the notation, not just for helping organisations to make improvements to their rules, but to better understand the requirements around their existing rule books.
A senior official of a registered organisation who has been actively collaborating with us on this project said:
'This model rules project is a fantastic initiative driven by the Commission to streamline the process of developing and enhancing all our rules. Peter Punch and FWC have listened to all of us and made model rules that are easy to reference and utilise for all registered organisations. This is a game changer and assists all of us protecting our organisations and makes sure that we’re up to date with our rules and that they are succinct with our members’ values. This project is a preventative measure that stops organisations breaching timelines and having convoluted rules that cause us all issues. Congratulations again and I’ll look forward to the election rules as the next stage of this project.'
The RO Act contains substantial requirements registered organisations must meet to have compliant rules. The Model Rules are designed to help organisations understand and comply with these, and other, requirements.
This has been a significant project for our Registered Organisations Services Branch. In addition to the outcomes referred to above, the Model Rules aim to:
- comply with the RO Act and the case law
- recognise practical requirements
- be user-friendly, with a logical structure and plain language, and
- embed good governance into organisational practices.
A second stage of the Model Rules project is now underway, which involves drafting election rules with assistance from the Australian Electoral Commission, and is expected to be completed in June 2025.
We continue to actively collaborate with our stakeholders and the General Manager specifically wishes to thank them for the time they have committed to providing us with insights and feedback, so as to ensure this resource will better serve their needs.