Hi there. Unfortunately, a lawyer did not answer your question sooner. The LawAdvisor Research Team has picked up your question and provided some general advice in relation to your situation. Remember, you still have the option of consulting a lawyer directly at any time by pressing the “Consult a Lawyer” button.

The scenario you described refers to the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal that was established in 2012 to set pay and conditions for road transport drivers in the road transport industry. Recently, the Tribunal made a controversial order that set minimum pay rates for owner drivers. In response to public and industry concern regarding the order, the federal government passed legislation that abolished the Tribunal and all orders it had made during its existence, including the recent minimum pay rates order for owner drivers. The Tribunal and its orders ceased to have effect at 12.00am on Thursday 21 April 2016.

These events occurred after you asked your question, so your need for legal advice may have changed. In any case, the following information may be of interest or assistance.

You correctly identified that price fixing is illegal in Australia. Anti-competitive conduct such as price fixing and cartel conduct is regulated under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (www.accc.gov.au). While an order or decision made by a tribunal, such as the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, may have an anti-competitive effect by fixing minimum rates in a particular industry, this conduct is generally subject to an exemption. This is because a tribunal is simply a government body and part of the executive branch of government. It is not part of the judiciary or court system. Therefore, decisions made by a tribunal have immunity (sometimes referred to as ‘Crown immunity’) because, in the context of competition laws, legal action cannot be taken against the government.

Furthermore, tribunals are ordinarily established by specific legislation that sets out the powers and functions of the tribunal. It is common for this legislation, as was the case for the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, to exempt the tribunal for liability under Australia’s competition laws or any other law that may be impacted by the tribunal’s decisions.

You also mentioned the possibility of a class action. Class actions are the same as any legal claim in a court of law, except there are multiple plaintiffs who are making the claim. For any legal claim, you need a ‘cause of action’. This means there must be a law or right that has been breach or violated by another party, and that other party is capable of being sued. In the situation you described, it is not clear what the legal cause of action would be. In any case, as explained above, no legal claim could have been made against the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal or government because of their immunity.