A Queensland council paid $2.35 million to a former employee last year. Not for a physical injury. For a psychiatric injury caused by a fabricated email that a third party wrote in her name — and which the council failed to publicly correct. That figure is the point of this article. Employers have adjusted to the idea that psychological injury generates […]
Two things have changed in Australian privacy law that most HR functions have not yet absorbed. The first is already in force: since 10 June 2025, individuals can sue for a serious invasion of privacy — and the employee records exemption does not apply to that action. The second lands on 10 December 2026, when employers using software to make
An engineer with thirty years’ experience was dismissed for genuinely substandard work. Missed deadlines. Quality problems. A welding error that halted a production line. The Fair Work Commission accepted there was a valid reason to dismiss him. He won anyway — and was awarded compensation of $21,471.15 plus superannuation — because the employer had no formal performance management process and gave him
Performance Management That Holds Up: Why a Valid Reason Is Only Half the Defence Read More »
Most employers know that a genuine redundancy triggers redundancy pay. Far fewer know that the Fair Work Commission can reduce that payment — sometimes to nothing — where the employer has obtained other acceptable employment for the employee. And far fewer still appreciate the sting in the test: whether the alternative employment is “acceptable” is judged objectively. It does
“They invoice us. They have an ABN. They’re a contractor.” That reasoning has never been enough, and in 2026 it is actively dangerous. A single worker can be a contractor at common law, an employee for superannuation purposes, and a deemed employee for payroll tax — all at the same time, under three different tests.
For decades, superannuation was a quarterly problem. You accrued it, you reconciled it, and you paid it within 28 days of the quarter’s end. From 1 July 2026 that model is gone. Superannuation is now a pay-cycle obligation: contributions must be received by the employee’s fund within seven business days of payday. Miss it — even by a day, even by a small amount — and
There is a clause in almost every Australian employment contract that most employers have never tested, many could not enforce, and a great number are about to lose. The Government has announced that from 2027 it will ban non-compete clauses for workers earning below the Fair Work Act high-income threshold, and prohibit wage-fixing and no-poach agreements between businesses. The reforms are not law yet. But the work
Most employers do not get caught out by the law they never heard of. They get caught out by the change they heard about, filed away, and did not diarise. Between 1 July 2026 and the end of 2027 there are six separate changes with hard start dates, each requiring a different function to act — payroll, HR,
What’s the real issue? Having a psychosocial health and safety policy is not the same as managing psychosocial risk and regulators increasingly treat the gap as a breach. The most common mistake we see is treating this as an HR document rather than a WHS obligation owned by senior leadership exactly the “Band-Aid solution” the Model Code of Practice warns against. A
Managing Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace: Why a Policy Alone Won’t Protect You Read More »
What’s the real issue? Since the 2023 changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), how you handle a flexible work request now matters as much as whether you say yes or no. Under section 65B, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) can now arbitrate refused requests — and order you to grant one anyway if you did not follow the
Flexible Work Requests: What Recent Fair Work Commission Decisions Require of Employers Read More »
Shadow AI is the use of artificial intelligence tools by employees for work — without the employer’s knowledge, approval or oversight, usually through public generative AI chatbots opened straight from a browser. The answer is not a blanket ban, which simply drives use underground. The answer is governance: a clear AI acceptable-use policy, staff training, clear data rules, human
If you pay an annual salary to award-covered staff, the Coles and Woolworths underpayment decision should be on your radar. Paying a generous salary that “washes out” over a year is no longer enough: a set-off must satisfy award entitlements in each pay period — not on average across the year. That point redraws the compliance map for Australian
When you make a role redundant, can you rely on the fact that there were simply no other jobs going? Not any more. Following the High Court’s 2025 decision in the Helensburgh Coal matter, “reasonable redeployment” under section 389 of the Fair Work Act now reaches beyond a list of vacant positions — in some cases it extends
Managing ill and injured employees is one of the highest-risk tasks any Australian employer faces. When a worker is injured or falls ill, several legal regimes switch on at once — and they don’t always agree. Get it right and you protect your people and your organisation. Get it wrong and one termination can trigger multiple claims. Here’s how to do it —
When a worker is killed or seriously injured at work, the first 48 hours shape everything that follows — your legal exposure, your standing with the WHS regulator, the wellbeing of your people, and your ability to defend any future prosecution. The best predictor of a good response is having an incident-response plan ready before anything happens.
The First 48 Hours After a Serious Workplace Incident: An Employer’s Response Plan Read More »
A well-run workplace investigation is one of the strongest risk-management tools an Australian employer has. Done properly, it gives you a defensible basis to act on misconduct. Done poorly, the investigation itself becomes the liability — often costing more than the original complaint. The difference comes down to process: right scope, procedural fairness, privilege considered early, and
Probation is not a legal safe zone. Ending employment during probation removes unfair dismissal exposure — but not a general protections claim, a discrimination complaint, or a breach of contract. Getting the fundamentals right keeps you out of trouble. What’s the real issue? Employers routinely confuse two very different things: A contractual probation period — a creature of contract
Probation Done Properly: What Employer Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Really Mean Read More »
Performance-manage an underperformer, restructure a team or investigate a bullying complaint, and you are no longer working within employment law alone. That decision now sits inside your work health and safety duty — and a process that is perfectly lawful under the Fair Work Act can still expose you under WHS legislation. The answer is not to
The biggest shift in Australian sexual harassment law is not a new penalty or complaint form. It is a change in who must act, and when. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), employers now carry a positive duty — a proactive, ongoing obligation to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination, sex-based harassment, hostile work environments and victimisation, so far as possible.
The Positive Duty Explained: How Australian Employers Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work Read More »
The Fair Work Commission has overhauled how general protections claims are run, and the shift favours prepared employers. Representation is decided “on the papers” before conference; out-of-time applications are triaged before you are served; conciliation is a fast 60-minute, resolution-only session; and a new Early Dispute Resolution (EDR) pilot tests informal settlement calls soon after lodgement. The reforms reward preparation
I want to start with a number. 28.5%. That is the proportion of Australians who have experienced child sexual abuse, according to the 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study. Of those, approximately 75% experienced it more than once. These are not rare events. This is not a problem confined to certain families or certain communities. This
Queensland’s Child Safe Laws: Everything Employers Need to Know Read More »
I’ve had the same conversation twice this week. Once with a childcare client — a capable, committed team doing genuinely good work with children every day. And again at the Local Government People & Safety Conference, standing in a room full of HR professionals and people managers from councils across Queensland. In both conversations, the
Is Your Organisation Child Safe? Read More »
Every July brings a wave of workplace law changes. Most years you can absorb them with a payroll update and a quick policy review. 2026 is not that year. The changes landing on 1 July 2026 are structural — not cosmetic. They alter how super is paid, how parental leave is funded, what counts as
What’s changing on 1 July 2026 — and what to do about it before it lands Read More »
Why Pay and Award Compliance Matters in Australia Pay and award compliance in Australia has become a major focus for employers, regulators, and the Fair Work Ombudsman. With increasing audits, penalties, and high-profile underpayment cases, businesses must ensure they meet their legal obligations under workplace laws. In our recent HR Bites webinar: Back to Basics
Pay and Award Compliance in Australia: A Back-to-Basics Guide for Employers Read More »
If you employ 500+ people, you’ve probably already heard the headlines: WGEA gender equality targets are coming. But what’s worth paying attention to isn’t just the compliance requirement, it’s what these changes signal about where workplace expectations are heading in Australia. From 2026, employers captured under the legislation (known as Designated Relevant Employers) will be required to select and commit to three gender equality targets, with at least one being numeric. Employers
At our 2025 End-of-Year event, we were privileged to host Christy Miller, Partner at Clayton Utz, who delivered a timely and engaging presentation titled “The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future (Also known as the 2025 Employment Law Updates).” The session provided essential updates and practical guidance for business leaders navigating the evolving landscape
2025 Employment Law Updates: Insights from Christy Miller, Partner at Clayton Utz Read More »
As the new financial year begins, there’s no better time for Australian businesses to conduct a comprehensive HR compliance check. In our recent HR Bites webinar, Kelly Hallett, Head of HR Team Services at Harrisons, shared essential insights to help business owners, managers, and HR leaders stay on top of their compliance obligations. A recent
Annual HR Compliance Check: Why Now Is the Time to Act Read More »