Tribunal certain it will be as busy this financial year as last
The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) met two of its three key performance indicators for the financial year, with one not applicable, the organisations states in its 2014-15 annual report.
The non-applicable KPI was for the review of road safety remuneration orders (RSROs) are reviewed within 12 months of expiry, due to none having expired.
Otherwise, the RSRT has developed an annual work program developed research and obtained or received submissions and published them on the website “in a timely manner as appropriate”.
“Ninety-one per cent of submissions were published within four days of receipt, and 100 per cent within seven days of receipt,” the report states.
“All research was published within two of days of being finalised and approved for publication.”
The research item was KPMG’s examination of contractor driver operating costs in distribution and long distance operations and the development of a cost model to calculate the minimum payments needed to compensate drivers for them.
This has become a focus of certain transport contracting and customer groups who face higher costs if the draft RSRO is confirmed in its present state.
The financial year has been taken up with:
- formulating the third annual work program (13 submissions)
- the cash in transit industry inquiry and draft RSRO (17 submissions and 14 on the draft RSRO)
- the payments for road transport drivers (37 submissions and 12 questions on the KPMG cost model and associated minimum payments)
- a Transport Workers Union oil, fuel and gas sectors RSRO application (dealt with through conciliation, with a proposed RSRO being prepared)
- the waste management industry inquiry (seven submissions)
- the wharf and port sector inquiry (six submissions).
The tribunal received nine dispute applications related to remuneration, non-compliance with an RSRO, contract terminations and safe working conditions, including the maintenance of trucks.
Its first application for approval of a road transport collective agreement came in May but the application was subsequently discontinued.
Of applications in general, by far the most were related to disputes about remuneration and related conditions, with 20 in 2014-15, two of which were dismissed, up from 13 in 2013-14, none of which were dismissed.
The tribunal’s administration is supported by the Fair Work Commission.
“The coming year will be just as busy for the Commission’s administrative team, with many of the Tribunal’s current inquiries continuing into 2015-16,” RSRT general manager Bernadette O’Neill says.
The full report can be found here.