A potential applicant under s 106 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 has only an abstract right to take advantage of the section until proceedings are actually commenced; this abstract right is not an 'accrued or acquired right' protected by s 30(1)(c) of the Interpretation Act 1987 from subsequent jurisdictional amendments. The emphatic language of s 108A(1) — 'an application cannot be made' — is sufficient to disclose a contrary intention excluding both s 30(1) and the common law presumption against retrospective interference with vested rights.
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