Department of Employment and Industrial Relations

Help

1. How To Build An IRIS Search Query

2. Current State Awards and History Search

From the drop-down menu of awards, simply select the applicable award by its title. The results from this search will include the latest version of the award plus associated history of amendments/variations correction of errors, decisions, notices, and/or orders, in date order. (Refer to Figure 1)


Figure 1: Depicts the alphabetical drop-down menu of awards

Hint: You can either scroll down until you find the award by its full name or if you know that the award starts with "B" - by continously typing the letter "B" on the keyboard all award titles starting with "B" will be displayed in ALPHA order (including those starting with "The") within the drop-down menu.

See also Interpreting the IRIS Search Results for more details.

^ back to top

3. Advanced IRIS Database Search

Advanced searching provide a means for you to tailor the search to your requirements. IRIS provides full text searching as well as by Title Field Only and specified Search Parameters. (Refer to Figure 2)

Figure 2:

Depicts the Advanced IRIS Database Search and relative features as marked

A. Search For Field

Type in a few descriptive keywords you wish the search to locate. A word (e.g. psychiatric), part of a word (e.g. psych) or a phrase (e.g. psychiatric hospitals) may be entered.

Hint: Common words such as "the", "and", "how", "where", as well as certain single letters ie "a" are not indexed and are therefore stripped from your query.

B. Search Title Field Only

Selecting this option searches on the document's title field only, NOT the full text of the document.

C. Search Parameters

Adding a condition to your search builds a search string and fine-tunes your keywords by using Boolean logic that equates to the following query strings. The radio button is defaulted at "with the exact phrase".

Parameter Search Options	Function	Example
With the exact phrase	Quotes are placed around the text and only those documents will appear that contain the exact phrase that you type in the exact order in which you type it. This can quickly narrow down the search to a specific document.	Search for clerical employees will return documents that contain the term.
With all of the words	AND is inserted between each word entered. This option locates all entered words or phrases. The order which the terms are typed will affect the search results.	For example: psychiatric AND cooks means the same as +psychiatric +cooks Each of the above search statements will find documents containing both terms, psychiatric and cooks
With any of the words	OR is inserted between each word entered. This option locates documents which contain any one of the entered words or phrases.	For example: shift OR penalty means the same as shift penalty The above search statement will retrieve documents with EITHER the term shift or penalty or BOTH terms, shift and penalty

D. Search Which Documents

To search across document types select one or more of the options provided. By default, all documents will be searched if no specific document type is selected. Documents are categorised as follows:

Awards (including Award Review and amended versions of Awards)
Agreements (i.e. Certified Agreements, Industrial Agreements and Enterprise Flexibility Agreements)
Orders including General Rulings
Decisions/Interpretations/Statement of Policy (including Declaration of General Rulings)
Notices (including lists of Agreements Certified by the Commission)
Variations/Amendments (including Correction of Errors)
Rescissions/Repeals (all repealed or rescinded documents)

E. Rescissions/Repeals

By default, searches are restricted to current documents. Searching rescinded/repealed documents can be achieved by selecting the tick option and carrying out a normal search (ie A, B, C and/or D above) or a full text search. Results may contain a number of versions of the same document with the highest version number being the most current.

If the document has been repealed it will have highlighted in red, the words, (rescinded document) in its document title.

F. Search Button

Select this button to submit the search query.

G. Reset Button

Select the "Reset Button" to clear the search screen so you can start again. All fields will be cleared and set back to the defaults.

^ back to top

4. Interpreting the IRIS Search Results

Figure 3: Depicts the search results' list of hits

A. Hits

Hits represents the total number of successful hits matching the keywords search criteria with the most likely documents appearing uppermost at the top, in score order. [ie Hits 1-43 (out of 43 total matching documents]. Results are paginated and displayed in groups of 50 records.

B. Type

There are six major document types with five different event types as described in more detail below. Combined, they indicate the movements of a particular document.

Document Types

Awards
Agreements
Orders
Decisions
Notices
Variations/Amendments

Event Types

New is either the first time the document is published (eg a New Award) or the first and only time the document will be published (Decision).
Variation or Amendment are documents where some of the conditions set down in an award, agreement or order are altered by a decision of the Commission. That is, the document is amended to reflect the new outcomes.
Consolidation is the award, agreement or order altered and updated to reflect the variation/amendment or correction of error of the Commission.
Rescission or Repeals is whereby the award, agreement or order has expired, is no longer valid or made obsolete by order of the Commission.
Rescission&New is whereby the award, agreement or order has expired, is no longer valid or made obsolete, by order of the Commission, and has been replaced by a new award, agreement or order.

C. Document Title

The Document Title is the description of the document, for example, for an award it is the award name, however for a Decision it is the parties to the decision.

Each record has a title (shown as a hyperlink) and is accompanied by a description of the page. To visit the desired link, simply click on the link title. A new window will be launched.

D. Available Document Formats

The full text of the document may be displayed in a number of formats.

5. Tips on Searching

Searching for a current Award

There are two methods that can be used to search for the latest copy of a Queensland State award:

From the drop-down menu of awards, simply select the applicable award by its title. The results from this search will include the latest version of the award plus associated history of amendments/variations correction of errors, decisions, notices, or orders.
The alternative method is to enter the title or preferably part of the title in the search field and select the Awards option. The results from this search will include all current award documents with that title. This may include several versions of the same award with the highest version number being the most current amended document.

Award Search Results

Figure 4: Depicts the award search results screen

A. Complete Document

The Complete Document is the award in its entirety in HTML format.

B. MS Word Document

The <(MS-Word)> link is the award in its entirety in Microsoft Word format.

C. Table of Contents

The table of contents represents the arrangement of the award, clause by clause. Each clause is shown as a hyperlink. To visit the desired clause, simply hold your shift key down and simultaneously click on the link provided. A new window will be launched. You can go back to the awards arrangement by closing the page at the "X" in the top right-hand corner of your browser. Alternatively, click on the link provided to open the clause. To return to the arrangement select the back arrow on your toolbar.

Hint: Occasions may arise where it is necessary to read two or more clauses or awards simultaneously (eg hours of work and overtime clauses). You can rearrange your screen viewers more efficiently by opening both clauses and tiling windows vertically .

D. Award Contents

After visiting the desired clause, you may click on the the "Award Contents" icon to take you back to the arrangement, as an alternative to the back arrow button on your toolbar.

E. Award Coverage

In Queensland different awards apply in different areas of the state. The map depicts a broad indication of the boundaries of each district. Refer to the application clause and/or area of operation clause within an award to ascertain the specific district.

F. Award Summary Sheets

Wageline has developed award summary sheets ** (in PDF) for selected Queensland state awards as a quick reference guide for employers and employees. These sheets are not an award, however are an extract of commonly requested information (e.g. rates of pay, ordinary hours, penalty rates, allowances, superannuation, notice provisions). Not all awards have a summary sheet and not all conditions of employment provided for in an award are covered in the summary sheet.

An Adobe Reader is required to view and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

** Only the latest award summary sheet are currently available for viewing.

^ back to top

Searching for a current Agreement

As with award searches, enter the title or part of the title in the search field and select the Agreements option. Often a search on the "case number" ie (CA347 of 1998) will achieve the required result. Alternatively, searching on the name of a person or persons involved in a particular matter will find the document.

^ back to top

6. The Online Awards and Wageline Site Search

The Online Awards and Wageline Site Search can be located by selecting the "Search" button on the tools menu (top right-hand corner) of the IRIS and Wageline websites.

To enter a query into the Wageline search facility, just type in a few descriptive words AND select the radio button for either:

The Online Awards - searches all State Awards by title and/or content
The Wageline website - searches all the Wageline website (excluding the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations) by title and content

and hit the 'search' button. The Wageline search facility will return results that contain ALL the words in your query, refining or narrowing your search is as simple as adding more words to the search terms you have already entered.

Common words such as "the", "and", "how", "where", as well as certain single letters ie "a" are not indexed and are therefore stripped from your query. Numbers are also not indexed.

In addition, there are several ways to modify the default search behaviour:

+ and - qualifiers

If you prefix a word with + that word is required to be on the page.
If you prefix a word with - that word is required to NOT be on the page.

Example: + clerical results in all awards with the word "clerical" in its title. Alternatively, + sick results in all pages on the subject sick leave.
* wildcard

If a query word ends with * all words on a page which start the same way as that query word will match.
Example: hospital* can result in "hospitality", "hospital" or "hospitals".

Page Title - The first line of the result is the title of the web page or award will link to the corresponding URL web address.

Description Below the Title

If you selected the radio button for the Online Awards:
- This text is the first 250 characters of the application clause of the award describing the type of work, industries, employers or areas to which an award applies.
If you selected the radio button for the Wageline website:
- This text is the first 250 characters of the content of the web page.

^ back to top

7. Hints & Technical Assistance

Viewing Documents

Having selected a document from the search results list, the document will be opened in a new window (this allows you to return to the search list for example and open another document at the same time, perhaps if you need to compare different versions of a particular document).

Using Windows & Your Browser

Please always consult the help facilities provided with any software you are using. This information is provided as a guide only and may only apply to Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP Platforms.

A. Find on this Page

After you go to a Web page , you can search for specific text on that page by clicking the Edit menu, and then clicking "Find On This Page" function (CTRL+F).

Alternatively, if you have launched a Portable Document Format (PDF) with your Adobe Reader you can click on the "binoculars" icon to launch the "Find on This Page" option.

B. View Two Web Pages Side by Side

To view any open windows side by side, right-mouse click an empty part of the taskbar (the bar at the bottom of your screen), and click either Title Windows Horizontally or Tile Windows Vertically. To Undo right mouse click on the taskbar and selection "Undo Tile".

C. Opening a Web Page in a New Window

When on the Web, you might want to view another Web page and at the same time stay on the page that gave you the link in the first place. With Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP, you can simply press and hold down the Shift key while you click the link. Alternatively right mouse click and select "Open Link in New Window". The page will open in a new Internet Explorer window. You can then view the two web pages side by side (refer to "B" above).

D. Changing Screen Resolution & Colours

Different computers have different screen setups. Your computer is likely to be set to one of three resolutions - 640x480 pixels, 800x600 pixels or 1024x768 pixels (where the numbers represent the width and height of your screen). Pixels are the little dots that combine to form the characters and graphics you see on the screen. This website will look very big on the 640x480 resolution, will sit comfortably on 800x600 (the most common resolution) and look quite condensed on 1024x768 (the newest screen resolution).

If you have a computer (running a Windows 95 or greater operating system) which is only a few years old, you will be able to change the screen resolution by simply changing the Display/Settings on the Control Panel/Monitor of your computer. The number of colours displayed on your monitor will also affect the quality of the images displayed in a website. The colour palette should read a minimum of 256 colours, but if your computer can handle it, it is preferable to select High Colour (16bit) or True Colour (24bit). For further information, please refer to your user manual supplied with your PC or operating system.

E. Changing Font Sizes

If you have difficulty reading the content on this website or any website, you can change the Font settings so that the text characters are larger.

If your browser is Internet Explorer 5.0 or 6.0:

select View
Text size
select Larger or Largest

F. Internet Browsers

You can check which Internet Browser you have by selecting Help, typically located on the top menu of your browser. There will usually be the option "About [Your Browser Name]". The first screen that comes up will display which Browser and version you are using.

For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 - You can also upgrade your browser for free by going to the Microsoft or Netscape websites and downloading the latest version. Often there is a special area call Downloads where the latest Browsers and other programs are available.

G. Printing a page from this website

You can print the complete page by simply pressing Print icon on your Browser menu or by clicking "File" and "Print" from your Browser's menu. If you cannot see the "Print" icon, please consult the Help file located in your browser software.

H. Bookmarks/Favourites

It is not recommended to bookmark (Netscape) or mark as favourites (Internet Explorer) pages within the IRIS Research Database as link address names change due to document version numbering.

I. Equipment required to use IRIS

You must provide the equipment you need to enable you to access the IRIS Site.

You need a connection to IRIS via the Internet.

You need a computer that supports a Web Browser such as Netscape 4.0 or better or Internet Explorer 5.0 or better. Other browsers may work. There is a Rich Text only version provided that should work with other browsers.

J. Downloading, Reading or Printing Documents

Portable Document Formats <View PDF>
Adobe Reader is required to view and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files and is free to download from:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

To view the document, click the link and the document will load into your browser if you have Adobe Reader installed.

To save the document for later viewing, right mouse click the link and "Save Target As..." or "Save Link as..." and save the file in the preferred location.

To convert PDFs to HTML or text formats use the online conversion tools for Adobe PDF files.

Rich Text Format <View DOC/RTF>
Rich Text Format (RTF) is the preferred method of downloading and printing a document. RTF files retain all formatting and structure, and are readable by nearly all word processors.

To save the file to disk, right mouse click on the link (on a Mac, click and hold the mouse button). Your browser will ask you where you want to save the file. Once downloading is complete, open the file in your word processor. Alternatively, you can have the document opened in your word processor automatically. Consult your browser documentation on how to configure your browser to do this.
MS-Word Format <(MS-Word)>

Microsoft Word is a universal and preferred format for viewing and editing formatted text.

To view the document, click the link and select "Open". The document will load immediately for viewing.

To save the document for later viewing, right mouse click the link and "Save Target As..." or "Save Link as..." and save the file in the preferred location.

^ back to top

Last Updated: Tuesday, 28 November, 2006