Tag: Workplace Bullying
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Biometrics and the Duty of Care: Navigating the ART Facial Recognition Precedent
The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) Guidance and Appeals Panel has delivered a definitive legal determination that reshapes the intersection of workplace safety and privacy compliance for the retail sector. In Bunnings Group Limited and Privacy Commissioner [2026] ARTA 130, handed down on 4 February 2026, the tribunal set aside a previous regulatory ban on automated…
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Slaying the “sacred cow” of inoculation banter—The FWC upholds pandemic policy reinstatements
The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has provided employers with definitive legal clarity regarding the boundaries of mandatory workplace immunization. In a series of highly anticipated landmark appeals, including Kimber v Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care Ltd [2021] FWCFB 6015 and Glover v Ozcare [2021] FWC 2989, the tribunal upheld the termination of…
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The cost of disregarding the workplace voice—The $5.2 Million bullying retaliation precedent
In one of the most severe general protections decisions in Australian industrial history, the Federal Court of Australia has fundamentally redefined the financial stakes of mismanaging internal safety grievances. In the milestone judgment of Roohizadegan v TechnologyOne Limited (No 2) [2020] FCA 1407, the court ordered an enterprise software employer and its chief executive to…
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The Rejection of “High Jinks”—South Australia’s First Category 1 Bullying Conviction
Within heavy industrial, trade, and apprentice-heavy environments, front-line supervisors have historically tolerated a culture of rough workplace pranks, hazing rituals, and aggressive teasing. These behaviours were routinely laughed off by middle management as harmless “high jinks,” team-building antics, or an unavoidable aspect of field culture. However, a historic prosecution finalised in South Australia has permanently…
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The judicial pivot on injury valuation—the multi-jurisdictional penalty multiplier
For multi-state operators and corporate insurers, predicting financial exposure following a workplace fatality has historically been handled by localising risk based on state borders. If an incident occurred in Queensland, safety executives reviewed historical Queensland judgments to forecast the likely statutory penalty. This approach assumed that regional legal trends would insulate a business from the…
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Boardroom parallels: the FWC expands anti-bullying protections to company directors
Corporate boardrooms have traditionally been viewed as arenas of intense commercial negotiation, strategic conflict, and high-stakes executive decisions. For generations, the legal view of a company director was strictly defined by the principles of corporations law, fiduciary duties, and governance-level oversight. Directors were considered the arbiters of corporate conduct, not subjects of workplace protection frameworks.…
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Anti-bullying jurisdictional climax: The FWC issues interpersonal exclusion orders
Since the Fair Work Commission (FWC) assumed its anti-bullying jurisdiction on 1 January 2014, safety professionals have closely monitored its rulings to understand the boundaries of its powers. In a landmark development, the tribunal reached a major enforcement milestone, issuing its first comprehensive set of substantive anti-bullying orders to resolve a bitter, long-running industrial relations…