Registered organisations page 20 of 21

The Federal Court has ordered former HSU national secretary Kathy Jackson to repay about $1.4 million to her old union, in an important judgment on the conduct of officers in registered organisations.

FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss has confirmed that 21 of the 53 matters it currently has before the courts concern right of entry breaches, and the issue is at the centre of a further 19 investigations.

The NSW Teachers Federation has amalgamated its state and federal branches into a single entity, while the NSW/ACT Independent Education Union expects to officially become a subdivision of the IEUA by the beginning of next year.

The FWC has ordered CFMEU construction and general division WA branch secretary Mick Buchan to amend his application for a new entry permit after finding he failed to declare four active court proceedings against him.

The HSU's ties to former leader Kathy Jackson have ended with the election of a new national secretary and president.

The Federal Court has fined the HSU and three former Victorian officials a total of nearly $68,000 for financial governance irregularities, and, in a first under registered organisations legislation, ordered one of them to repay the union more than $26,000.

The former secretary of the HSU Vic No 3 branch, Kathy Jackson, submitted a claim for $65,740 for solicitors’ fees when the actual amount the union was charged was only $1,122, the Heydon royal commission has heard.

A Federal Court full court has agreed to stay FWBC penalty action against the CFMEU and eight officials over the Grocon blockades on the basis that the same conduct has already led to criminal proceedings, but has allowed the watchdog's unlawful coercion case to continue.

Labor and Greens members that make up the majority of a Senate committee have adopted AiG's view that substantial elements of the Abbott Government's Registered Organisations Bill are too onerous and need to be relaxed.

South Australian Employee Ombudsman Stephen Brennan has been charged with falsifying accounts and dishonesty when secretary of the TCFU's former SA/Tasmanian branch, while the Fair Work Commission is continuing to investigate the branch's financial affairs.