Section 216ABFair Work Act 2009 (Cth)

When the FWC must approve a variation of a supported bargaining agreement to add employer and employees

(1) If an application for the approval of a variation of a supported bargaining agreement is made under section 216AA, the FWC must approve the variation if the FWC is satisfied that:

(a) if the application that was made under section 242 for the supported bargaining authorisation in relation to the agreement had specified the affected employees and their employer, the FWC would have been required to make the authorisation in accordance with section 216AC; and

(b) the affected employees have voted on whether to approve the variation and, of those who cast a valid vote, a majority approved the variation; and

(c) the variation has been genuinely agreed to by the affected employees in accordance with section 216AD;

unless the FWC is satisfied that there are serious public interest grounds for not approving the variation.

(2) Despite subsection (1), the FWC must not approve the variation if, as a result of the variation, the agreement would cover employees in relation to general building and construction work.

(3) Despite subsection (1), the FWC must not approve the variation if the employer that will be covered by the agreement is specified in a single interest employer authorisation in relation to any of the affected employees.

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 17 May 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.

Related sections

Research how courts apply s 216AB

BriefBridge searches Australian caselaw by meaning — every answer cited to the paragraph.

Try BriefBridge free