Casual employees covered by two Western Australian local government awards will receive a 25% casual loading, up from 20%, and gain a right to request conversion to permanent work. Commissioner T B Walkington of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission granted those two variations on 27 October 2026. The Commissioner refused four other claims. A fifth, on flexible working arrangements, had already been withdrawn.
The Western Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union of Employees (WASU) applied in 2023 under s 40 of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) to vary the Municipal Employees (Western Australia) Award 2021 and the Local Government Officers’ (Western Australia) Award 2021. An award variation changes the minimum terms set by an award for the employers and employees it covers. The Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) and a group of shires opposed most of the claims. The Local Government, Racing and Cemeteries Employees Union (WA) supported them.
At a glance
- Parties: WASU v City of Kalamunda and others, including WALGA and 25 named local governments
- Citation: 2026 WAIRC 00951
- Section: s 40, Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA)
- Granted: casual loading from 20% to 25%; casual conversion clause
- Refused: employment equity clause, regional severance, extra shiftworker leave, paid cultural and ceremonial leave
- Who it affects: employers and employees covered by the two WA local government awards
Casuals get a higher loading and a right to ask
The casual loading rise was made by consent. The respondents accepted that the awards should line up with the recently amended Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (WA).
Casual conversion was contested. Casual conversion is a process by which a casual employee can ask to become a permanent full-time or part-time employee. The new clause applies where the employer has 15 or more employees and the casual has worked for that employer for at least 12 months, with a regular pattern of hours over the last 6 months. The employer must respond in writing within 21 days and can refuse only if the conditions are not met or on reasonable business grounds. The WASU said it modelled the clause on the conversion rules that formed part of the National Employment Standards between 27 March 2021 and 25 August 2024.
WALGA argued the clause would add administrative complexity and cost, and that the matter belonged in enterprise bargaining. It pointed to a survey of its members: 27% of respondents backed conversion as an award entitlement, 38% backed an option for employers to offer it and 35% were against any award obligation.
The Commissioner found the employers’ concerns appeared to have been formed “without the benefit of a review of the proposed clause”. The decision states: “I do not agree the consideration and determination of a request by an employee who has been employed for at least 12 months to be an onerous burden.” The Commissioner also found “no evidence before me to conclude the inclusion of the proposed clause in the Awards, will result in additional costs.” The new clause takes effect from the first pay period starting on or after the date of the order.
The preferential hiring clause failed on proportionality
The most contested claim would have required councils to develop policies giving “preferential treatment” to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in hiring, promotion, training and lay-off, “where it is reasonably practicable to do so”. The Commissioner assessed it as a special measure, a targeted step to address the disadvantage of a particular group, which must satisfy several elements to be permissible.
that the clause was consistent with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, to which local government is a party through the Australian Local Government Association, and that councils already meeting equal opportunity obligations under s 145 of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) would have “very little extra work” to comply.
against it. The Shire of Waroona submitted the claim discriminated against people of non-Indigenous background and was “fundamentally racist”. The Shires of Goomalling and Laverton objected on similar grounds and said they should be able to employ the best person for the role.
that councils already have equal employment opportunity obligations, that the clause practically replicated Canadian legislation without its express limitations, and that positive discrimination provisions belonged in statute or enterprise bargaining.
that there was “a sufficient basis for the implementation of a special measure” and that the clause had a legitimate purpose, but that the clause failed two other elements. There was “no evidence” that the preferential treatment elements would address the inequality without being disproportionate, and the clause was “open ended”, with no end date or test for when it would stop operating.
The Commissioner also found the clause was “not consistently understood” by witnesses, that the meaning of “reasonably practicable” was unclear, and that there was no evidence it had been co-designed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The decision states that it is not impossible to develop a clause that satisfies the requirements of a special measure, but there was “insufficient evidence” to do so on the terms proposed.
Regional severance, shift leave and cultural leave refused
The severance claim sought two weeks’ pay for each completed year of service, capped at 26 weeks’ pay, for redundant employees of councils outside the Perth metropolitan region with 15 or more employees. The Shire of Nannup’s chief executive, David Taylor, gave evidence that it would require the shire to raise an extra $20,000, resulting in a 1% rate increase. The Commissioner accepted that alternative work is limited in many regional locations, but found the WASU had not addressed the established principles for redundancy pay and that the evidence of impact was “limited to the experience of one employee”.
The shiftworker claim sought an additional week of annual leave. The Commissioner found the awards’ definition of shiftwork was broader than the federal Local Government Industry Award 2020 definition, and that with limited evidence of local government shift patterns, the impact could not be assessed.
The cultural and ceremonial leave claim sought paid leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees under the Local Government Officers’ award: up to three days for travel to country and up to two days for the leave itself. WALGA tendered a list of federal and state awards that provide cultural and ceremonial leave. All but one made the leave unpaid or allowed other paid leave to be used. The exception was a state award, the Aboriginal Communities and Organisations Interim Award 2011. The Commissioner accepted that some employees use their leave entitlements for cultural reasons, but found the evidence did not allow the cost to be assessed. The decision states the matter “would be appropriately subject to an application by a party to the Commission in Court Session”.
Where the equity question goes next
The Commissioner recommended that the parties negotiate or conciliate an agreed clause that meets the requirements of a special measure, through a consent award variation, a multi-enterprise agreement or a model bargaining clause. The decision notes that union bargaining depends on majority decisions, and that “the democratic foundation of majority decision making may result in equity measures being sacrificed on the altar of pragmatic agreement.”
The decision states that if bargaining at individual councils fails, a party may apply for arbitration under s 42I or s 42G of the Industrial Relations Act, or bring a further claim to vary the awards with evidence of the remedy’s effectiveness and proportionality.
Source: 2026 WAIRC 00951
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