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Three unions and 64 childcare employers have been cleared to make a multi-enterprise agreement, after a Fair Work Commission full bench found numerous factors "overwhelmingly" favoured authorising their application.

The Secure Jobs Act's multi-employer bargaining changes came into effect on 6 June this year, and that same day the United Workers' Union, Australian Education Union and Independent Education Union of Australia applied for a supported bargaining authorisation under section 242(1) of the Fair Work Act.

In their decision yesterday, President Justice Adam Hatcher, Vice President Ingrid Asbury and Deputy President Peter Hampton set out the relevant statutory framework and general principles, and noted the supported bargaining scheme is a "modification" of the FW Act's previous low-paid bargaining scheme, "rather than a complete innovation, with the objective of rendering the scheme more accessible and therefore more widely-used"...