Protected Action Ballots Scheme (PABS)
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 provides that employees or a union must obtain an order from the AIRC for a secret ballot to be held before authorised protected industrial action may occur. Under the Act, the Commonwealth is required to meet 80 per cent of all genuine and reasonable costs incurred by ballot agents conducting secret ballots for this purpose.
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is responsible for establishing and implementing the Protected Action Ballots Scheme (PABS) to administer payment of the Commonwealth’s financial contribution to the cost of authorised secret ballots.