A workplace delegates’ rights term must be included in all enterprise agreements.
Enterprise agreements voted on by employees on or after 1 July 2024 must include a workplace delegates’ rights term. This is due to changes arising from the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023.
A workplace delegates’ rights term is about the exercise of the rights of workplace delegates. The term provides reasonable entitlements to:
- communication with employees that the delegate can represent
- to relevant workplaces and workplace facilities, and
- for delegates.
A statement from Vice President Asbury with the final workplace delegates’ rights term was issued on 28 June 2024. The new term has been inserted into all 155 modern awards.
You can find the updated awards from the Find an award page on our website.
How to write the term
You can either:
- use the workplace delegates’ rights term in the modern award that covers the workplace delegates (if more than one modern award covers the workplace delegates, use the most favourable delegates’ rights term from those awards), or
- write your own term that is no less favourable than the delegates’ rights term in the modern award (or awards) that covers the employees.
If the agreement does not include a workplace delegates’ rights term, the term set out in the relevant modern award will be included. This will be noted in the decision approving the agreement.
If the term is less favourable
The most favourable workplace delegates’ rights term from the modern award (or awards) that cover the workplace delegates will apply AND the delegates’ rights term in the agreement has no effect.
See our Delegates' rights terms fact sheet (pdf) [add link] to understand these changes to agreement making.