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Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Information FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is an award?
• Who is covered by a NSW award?
• Am I entitled to Holidays?
• Who is not covered by this Act?
• If I am on the CDEP program am I covered by an award?
• I am a property manager for a Land Council. What is my award?
• I have been sacked from my job, can I claim an unfair dismissal?
  

What is an award?

An award sets out the rights and obligations of employers and employees who are engaged in particular types of work. There are many different types of awards to cover different industries and occupations.

Awards deal with conditions of employment such as hours of employment, pay rates, penalty rates, loadings, allowances, leave entitlements, employment protection provisions and part time and casual work.

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Who is covered by a NSW award?

A NSW award covers all employers and employees in the industry or occupation to which it relates, whether or not they were parties to the making of the award. Every NSW award has a clause which sets out the industry or occupation covered by the award. An employer is required to have copies of all of the relevant awards to be displayed in the workplace.

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Am I entitled to Holidays?

Under the Annual Holidays Act 1944, full time and part time employees in New South Wales are entitled to a minimum of four weeks paid leave per year. In this Act, a worker is defined as a person who is employed, whether on salary, wages, piecework rates or someone who is paid wholly or partly by commission.

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Who is not covered by this Act?

Workers who are:

• covered by a federal award which provides an annual leave entitlement;
• covered by a NSW award, agreement or contract of employment which provides more favourable annual leave entitlements than those in the act;
• federal and state public servants who have their own specific statutory leave entitlements.

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If I am on the CDEP program am I covered by an award?

This will depend on the type of work that is preformed. In many situations there is a state award that will apply in your workplace. If you are unsure of your award, you can speak to your manager, or you can contact the ATSI Unit for advice.

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I am a property manager for a Land Council. What is my award?

If the majority of the work is in property management, then there is no state award coverage. This means that all wages and most conditions of employment will be negotiable between the LALC and the employee.

Please find below a list of property management functions which are prescribed under the Real Estate Industry Award. Although the Real Estate Industry Award does not officially/legally apply this list may provide a useful guide for the purpose of identifying a property manager in your business.

Property Management functions are prescribed as follows:
Selection of tenants, collection of rents, payment of outgoings accounting to the owner, care and maintenance of the structure and its equipment, preparation of management agency agreement, negotiation of lease terms and conditions, preparation of Residential Tenancy Agreement, liaison with owners of property, taking inventory prior to occupancy, inspecting property prior to termination of tenancy, inspecting property prior to occupancy, preparation of Rental Bond Board documents, checking and collection of arrears of rent, preparation and execution of termination notice, preparation and registration of lease agreement, reporting regularly to owners on conditions of property, reporting to owners on market conditions e.g. rental levels appraising properties for rental liaison with tradesmen arranging and checking repairs checking invoices arranging connection of power inspecting properties to determine repairs needed preparing budget for Owners Corporation attending meetings of the Executive Committee of the Owners Corporation or the Owners Corporation collecting contributions of maintenance and sinking funds for the Owners Corporation preparation of an application for an order from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal appearing before the Residential Tenancy Tribunal.

However, in some cases an employee may preform more than one type of work- for example an employee may be a property manager but their majority of their work could be on a more clerical basis.

If this is the case then the Clerical and Administrative Employees (State) award could apply.

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I have been sacked from my job, can I claim an unfair dismissal?

In general, the unfair dismissal provisions of the Act apply to:

• employees whose conditions of employment are set by a NSW award or enterprise agreement
• NSW public sector employees
• employees whose work is not covered by an award and who earn less than $85,400 per year (this amount is automatically indexed on 1 July each year).

A dismissal is unfair when it is "harsh, unreasonable or unjust". In dealing with a claim, the Commission may take into account:

• whether a reason for the dismissal was given
• the nature of the reason (for example, whether discrimination was involved)
• whether the applicant was given an opportunity to give an explanation or to justify his or her reinstatement or re-employment
• whether a warning of unsatisfactory performance was given
• the nature of the duties performed by the employee.

The Commission may also take into account any other matters that it considers relevant.