Helene Lee

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The AAT has found that the termination of employment of a former public servant who tweeted anonymously trespassed on the implied freedom of political communication and was therefore unlawful, in a decision which examined the scope and application of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth) (PSA) in the context of reviewing a denied workers compensation claim.

Michaela Banerji brought proceedings in the AAT seeking review of a decision by Comcare to deny her workers compensation claim for a post-traumatic stress disorder she developed because of a decision by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (Department) to terminate her employment in 2013 for breach of the PSA Code of Conduct (Code), and Department Guidelines regarding use of social media (Guidelines). The conduct relied upon by the Department was Ms Banerji’s use of a Twitter account using the twitter handle LaLegale to post tweets which were critical of the then government, immigration minister, members of the Commonwealth Parliament, government immigration policy and the Department’s Communication manager.

Comcare argued that the decision to terminate was ‘reasonable administrative action’ taken in respect of Ms Banerji’s employment so that liability for her condition was excluded from the meaning of ‘injury’ under section 5A(1) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. Ms Banerji argued that the termination of her employment was not reasonable administration action carried out in a reasonable manner, if it was carried out in breach of the implied freedom of political communication as identified by the High Court in Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 189 CLR 520.

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations surfacing in October 2017, the ‘MeToo’ movement has gained widespread traction after women and men around the world started sharing their experiences of workplace sexual harassment and sexual violence on twitter using the hashtag #MeToo.

In circumstances where one in five people surveyed by the Australian Human…

As part of its four yearly review of modern awards, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has recently considered whether a clause found in many modern awards allowing employers to make deductions from an employee’s termination pay (where the employee fails to give sufficient notice of resignation) should be removed, changed or included in all modern awards.

The Federal Government’s Protecting Vulnerable Workers Bill received the Royal Assent on 14 September 2017. With the exception of the provisions in relation to responsible franchisors (which commence on 27 October 2017), the Fair Work Amendment (Protection of Vulnerable Workers) Act 2017 (Cth) (Act) commenced on Friday 15 September 2017.

We recommend that franchisors take appropriate steps to protect their businesses. In this article, we examine what the amendments mean for franchisors and provide recommendations for a carefully considered approach to assist franchisors in complying with the new laws while continuing to foster a collaborative relationship between them and their franchisees.

In a decision which considered agreement making for “start ups”, the Fair Work Commission has held that there was nothing unusual or untoward in a relatively new business making an enterprise agreement early in its life with a small number of employees with an expectation that the business will grow and eventually employ a much…