4.1 This award covers employers throughout Australia in the sugar industry and their employees who are covered by the classifications in this award.
4.2 In this award sugar industry means the following:
(a) sugar cane farming operations including the operations of contractors performing general farm work, cane harvesting and haul out work and farm management; cane testing; and pest, disease control, advisory and research operations of Cane Protection and Productivity Boards and the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations;
(b) sugar milling including the following operations of the sugar miller: cane railway construction, maintenance, repair and operation; factory operations; raw sugar refining at a sugar mill; by-product manufacture and processing at a sugar mill; and packaging operations performed at a sugar mill;
(c) refining raw sugar at sugar refineries and those refineries' packaging operations;
(d) distilling sugar by-products for industrial purposes and packaging work in a distilling operation directly linked to a sugar mill;
(e) bulk (packed or loose) receival, storage, outloading and ship loading at the industry's bulk terminals, including handling incidental commodities or material; and
(f) the generation and/or transmission of power and/or steam that is ancillary or incidental to the employer's activities in clauses 4.2(b) to (d) (albeit that excess power may be sold into the grid).
4.3 Where a sugar industry employer is also engaged in another industry not covered by this award the employees of that employer in the other industry will be covered by the industry award of that other industry.
4.5 This award covers any employer which supplies labour on an on-hire basis in the industry set out in clause 4.1 in respect of on-hire employees in classifications covered by this award, and those on-hire employees, while engaged in the performance of work for a business in that industry. this subclause operates subject to the exclusions from coverage in this award.
4.8 Where an employer is covered by more than one award, an employee of that employer is covered by the award classification which is most appropriate to the work performed by the employee and to the environment in which the employee normally works.
NOTE: Where there is no classification for a particular employee in this award it is possible that the employer and that employee are covered by an award with occupational coverage.
Definitions and interpretation
bulk terminal operations means all handling and storage operations of the bulk sugar terminals of both sugar, its products or any other commodity the terminals may handle from time to time
by-product means any product manufactured or processed in the sugar industry apart from sugar crystal (this may include, for example, ethanol, molasses, furfural and compost)
distillery sector means all distilling operations of sugar by-products for industrial purposes and packaging operations in a distillery directly linked to a sugar mill
field sector means all cane farming and/or harvesting operations, and any operations incidental to, or in connection with, such operations in the sugar industry including any pest, disease control and research operations, including cane testing work
milling sector means the operations of transporting and processing cane including all rail construction, maintenance and operation; sugar cane by-product manufacture and processing at a sugar mill; and packaging and storage operations performed at a sugar mill
minor construction means construction work carried out at the business of an employer under this award on the operations of that employer, by that employer's employees but does not include any construction work carried out by a contractor
on-hire means the on-hire of an employee by their employer to a client, where such employee works under the general guidance and instruction of the client or a representative of the client
refinery sector means all refining operations of raw sugar at sugar refineries and those refineries own packaging and storage operations
seasonal employee means an employee who has been engaged by the employer on or about the commencement of the crushing season for the purpose of performing duties directly and indirectly related to crushing season operations and whose duties are completed and employment terminated on or about the end of the mill's crushing season. For the purpose of a 38 hour week only, all employees not specifically engaged as seasonal, who are engaged after the first Monday of June in any one year and before the first Monday of June in the subsequent year, will be deemed seasonals until the first Monday of June in the subsequent year.