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May 28th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The head of Fair Work Australia (FWA) says restoring the agency’s reputation is vital following the Health Services Union (HSU) scandal.
Justice Iain Ross started as president of FWA in March upon the retirement of Justice Geoffrey Giudice.
But Justice Ross, a Victorian Supreme Court judge and former ACTU official, has found himself at the centre of a political storm over the HSU and its former national secretary Craig Thomson, who is now a federal MP.
Mr Thomson, who denies the findings of a FWA investigation report into his alleged misuse of union funds between 2002 and 2007, says its investigation was biased and took too long to complete.
The federal opposition has also blasted FWA for having taken three years to examine the HSU.
After fronting a Senate committee hearing in Canberra on Monday, Justice Ross told AAP that FWA’s reputation had been “tarnished” by the criticism levelled at its administrative arm, which dealt with the HSU matter.
Justice Ross said the first step to restoring FWA’s reputation was a change of name.
“My principal concern is the name be different from the name of the Act,” he said, suggesting it be changed to the Australian Workplace Commission or Australian Workplace Relations Commission.
Justice Ross said there also needed to be greater clarity between the different roles of the tribunal and the administrative arm.
“From reading the papers and talking to people in the community they say `Why did it take so long?’ and make the criticism of the whole organisation,” he said.
“My point is this is not a function of the tribunal organisation, but people don’t make that distinction.”
But Justice Ross accepts that the investigation took too long. An independent review by advisory firm KPMG into the issue is to report to FWA by the end of July.
In a bid to enhance FWA’s role as Australia’s national workplace relations tribunal, Justice Ross plans to set performance benchmarks, improve timeliness and publish regular reports online.
He’s also considering online document lodgment systems, using technology like Skype and providing greater assistance to employees and business operators representing themselves before the tribunal.
Justice Ross said he also wanted to engage with employers and employees to improve workplace culture.
“We need to be about improving workplace culture and preventing disputes in the first place,” he said.
“If you want to try and do something to improve productivity growth then the path to that is about better workplace culture.”
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