Understanding Enterprise Bargaining

What Is Enterprise Bargaining?

Enterprise bargaining is a formal negotiation between an employer and its employees (or the people representing them) about pay and conditions.

If bargaining is successful, it results in an enterprise agreement — a legally binding document that sets out things like:

• Pay rates
• Hours of work
• Leave entitlements
• Allowances and other conditions

Before an enterprise agreement can take effect, it has to be:

1. Voted on by the employees it will cover (a majority needs to agree); and
2. Approved by an official body — usually the Fair Work Commission, or a similar state body (more on this below).

Not every workplace has an enterprise agreement. If yours doesn't, your pay and conditions are usually set by an award or your employment contract instead.

A note on terminology

You'll see a few different terms used for the same basic thing:

• EA (Enterprise Agreement) and EBA (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) mean the same thing, EBA is just the older term.
• "Certified Agreement" is a term often used in the public sector, particularly at state level. It works the same way as an enterprise agreement, but is made and approved under state laws rather than the federal Fair Work Act.

Who approves my agreement?

This depends on who you work for:

If you work for a private employer (not a government department), your agreement is almost always approved by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) — the national body that handles this for most Australian workplaces.

👉 You can search for your agreement here: https://www.fwc.gov.au/work-conditions/enterprise-agreements/find-enterprise-agreement

• Federal Government Agency = Fair Work Commission
• Victorian Government = Fair Work Commission (see also the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2024 and their common policies)
• Queensland Government = Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
• NSW Government = Industrial Relations Commission of NSW
• Tasmanian Government = Tasmanian Industrial Commission
• SA Government = South Australian Employment Tribunal
• WA Government = Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission
• Northern Territory Government = Fair Work Commission (mirrored at the NT Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment)
• ACT Government = Fair Work Commission (mirrored by ACT Public Sector)

A rare exceptions: occasionally a private employer's agreement is approved by a state commission instead — usually because they mainly do government contract work, or because of an old agreement made before 2009. If you're not sure which system covers you, just contact the Red Union Hotline and we'll check for you.

How is Red Union different from traditional unions?

Red Union affiliates are not yet "registered organisation(s)" under industrial law (traditional unions are). In practice, this means two things:

1. We don't automatically have a seat at the bargaining table everywhere. Registered unions are automatically recognised as bargaining representatives in many situations. Because Red Union isn't registered, we sometimes need members to formally appoint one of our associations instead.
2. We prioritise workplaces where we can make the biggest difference. Because we represent members across many industries nationally, we focus our bargaining resources where there's a genuine opportunity to negotiate and a solid base of members at that workplace (typically 10 members covered by the agreement).

What this doesn't change is what we do for you: we still advise you on your options, help you understand what's being proposed, and represent your interests.

Whether we can formally bargain on your behalf depends on where you work:

• In most Fair Work Commission workplaces (most private employers, and several government ones), you can appoint any bargaining representative you choose, including our Red Union affiliated associations such as the NPAA (Nurses Professional Association of Australia).
• In some state systems (parts of Queensland and NSW in particular), the rules on who can act as a bargaining agent are more restrictive.
• In South Australia and Western Australia, Red Union has registered industrial agents who can bargain for members there, where registration is legally required.

If you're unsure whether we can represent you at your workplace, ask us, this is exactly what the Hotline is for.

What does a Red Union actually do during bargaining? 

 Where your we are appointed to bargain as your representative, we can: 

• Advise you on your rights and options
• Put forward proposals on behalf of employees as a group
• Run and analyse member surveys to shape what we're asking for
• Attend bargaining meetings on your behalf
• Help organise lawful industrial action, if members support it and it's needed
• Explain a proposed agreement in plain terms before you vote on it
• Give you ongoing access to an experienced bargaining agent for questions

Bargaining is coming up, what do I do?

Get in touch with us if:

• your workplace is entering a bargaining period, or

• you have received a bargaining notice, or

• have gathered enough support in your workplace for a new enterprise agreement.

Option A – Make a Bargaining Request Form (preferred)

• Log in to your Member Portal at member.redunion.com.au (AU) or member.unions.co.nz (NZ) using your current member email address and mobile phone for verification.

• On the portal dashboard:

  • Navigate to "Need help?" section->

  • Click on the "Enterprise Bargaining Request" card -> 

  • Answer all required questions and hit submit. 

 Your request will be reviewed and, where appropriate, passed to our specialist industrial team. 

Option B – Contact Hotline

If you have more questions or can't lodge the bargaining request form, our team can help:

• Call: 1300 263 374 (24/7)
• Email: hotline@redunion.com.au
• Live chat: available during business hours — ask for a human operator
• SMS: if you've been given a hotline SMS number, you can use that too

Always refer to up-to-date information

 This guide is general information for Red Union members and isn't a substitute for specific advice about your situation. If in doubt, contact the Hotline. Please let us know if there are any inaccuracies so we can correct the information, you can contact the hotline + mark this article unhelpful to help us keep this updated – to best help fellow Australian workers.