Section 462 — Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)

General

(1) A person (the first person) must not do any of the following in relation to a protected action ballot:

(a) hinder or obstruct the holding of the ballot;

(b) use any form of intimidation to prevent a person entitled to vote in the ballot from voting, or to influence the vote of such a person;

(c) threaten, offer or suggest, or use, cause or inflict, any violence, injury, punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage because of, or to induce:

(i) any vote or omission to vote; or

(ii) any support of, or opposition to, voting in a particular manner;

(d) offer an advantage (whether financial or otherwise) to a person entitled to vote in the ballot because of or to induce:

(i) any vote or omission to vote; or

(ii) any support of, or opposition to, voting in a particular manner;

(e) counsel or advise a person entitled to vote to refrain from voting;

(f) impersonate another person to obtain a ballot paper to which the first person is not entitled, or impersonate another person for the purpose of voting;

(g) do an act that results in a ballot paper or envelope being destroyed, defaced, altered, taken or otherwise interfered with;

(h) fraudulently put a paper ballot paper or other paper:

(i) into a repository that serves to receive or hold paper ballot papers; or

(ii) into the post;

(ha) fraudulently deliver or send an electronic ballot paper or other document to a repository that serves to receive or hold electronic ballot papers;

(i) fraudulently deliver or send a ballot paper or other paper to a person receiving ballot papers for the purposes of the ballot;

(j) record a vote that the first person is not entitled to record;

(k) record more than one vote;

(l) forge a ballot paper or envelope, or utter a ballot paper or envelope that the first person knows to be forged;

(m) provide a ballot paper without authority;

(n) obtain or have possession of a ballot paper to which the first person is not entitled;

(o) request, require or induce another person:

(i) to show a ballot paper to the first person; or

(ii) to permit the first person to see a ballot paper in such a manner that the first person can see the vote;

while the vote is being made, or after the vote has been made, on the ballot paper;

(p) do an act that results in a repository that serves to receive or hold ballot papers being destroyed, taken, opened or otherwise interfered with.

Note: This subsection is a civil remedy provision (see Part 4‑1).

Meaning of utter

(2) A person is taken to utter a forged document if the person:

(a) uses or deals with it; or

(b) attempts to use or deal with it; or

(c) attempts to induce another person to use, deal with, act upon, or accept it.

Obligations of person performing functions or exercising powers for the purposes of a protected action ballot

(3) A person (the first person) who is performing functions or exercising powers for the purposes of a protected action ballot must not show to another person, or permit another person to have access to, a ballot paper used in the ballot, except in the course of performing those functions or exercising those powers.

Note: This subsection is a civil remedy provision (see Part 4‑1).

Related sections

• s 459 — Circumstances in which industrial action is authorised by protected action ballot
• s 460 — Immunity for persons who act in good faith on protected action ballot results
• s 461 — Validity of protected action ballot etc. not affected by technical breaches
• s 463 — Contravening a protected action ballot order etc.
• s 464 — Costs of protected action ballot conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission
• s 465 — Costs of protected action ballot conducted by protected action ballot agent other than the Australian Electoral Commission

Research how courts apply s 462

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