Entitlement to become and to remain a member
166 Entitlement to become and to remain a member
Employee organisations
Subject to any modern award or order of the FWC, a person who is eligible to become a member of an organisation of employees under the eligibility rules of the organisation that relate to the occupations in which, or the industry or enterprise in relation to which, members are to be employed is, unless of general bad character, entitled, subject to payment of any amount properly payable in relation to membership:
to be admitted as a member of the organisation; and
to remain a member so long as the person complies with the rules of the organisation.
Rules of an organisation must provide for the circumstances in which a person ceases to be a member of an organisation (see subparagraph 141(1)(b)(vii)).
If a member fails to pay his or her membership dues for 24 months, this may result in the person ceasing to be a member, regardless of the rules of the organisation (see section 172).
See also section 168, which deals with a special case of entitlement to membership (person treated as having been a member).
Subsection (1) does not entitle a person to remain a member of an organisation if the person ceases to be eligible to become a member and the rules of the organisation do not permit the person to remain a member.
A person who is qualified to be employed in a particular occupation, and seeks to be employed in the occupation:
is taken to be an employee for the purposes of this section; and
in spite of anything in the rules of the organisation, is not to be treated as not being eligible for membership of an organisation merely because the person has never been employed in the occupation.
Employer organisations
Subject to subsection (5) and to any modern award or order of the FWC, an employer who is eligible to become a member of an organisation of employers is entitled, subject to payment of any amount properly payable in relation to membership:
to be admitted as a member of the organisation; and
to remain a member so long as the employer complies with the rules of the organisation.
Subsection (4) does not entitle an employer:
to become a member of an organisation if the employer is:
a natural person who is of general bad character; or
a body corporate whose constituent documents make provisions inconsistent with the purposes for which the organisation was formed; or
to remain a member of an organisation if the employer ceases to be eligible to become a member and the rules of the organisation do not permit the employer to remain a member.
This section overrides inconsistent rules
Subsections (1) and (4) have effect in spite of anything in the rules of the organisation concerned, except to the extent that they expressly require compliance with those rules.
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