[2025] FWC 2459
General information, not legal advice.
Fair Work Commission
2025-08-22
Original judgment source is linked above.
s.789FC - Application for an order to stop bullying
Application for an FWC order to stop bullying - no bullying - application dismissed.
PN1 - holds a senior HR role and reports to PN6. PN7 and PN4 report to PN1.
PN3 - works in the IT department providing IT support to staff and reports to PN8.
PN4 - holds a senior role in the work health and safety team.
PN5 - the Applicant's line manager from his commencement in October 2023 until 11 June 2024.
PN9 - the Applicant's line manager from 26 August 2024 to 19 September 2024.
PN10 - the Applicant's line manager from 11 June 2024 to 26 August 2024.
(1) A worker who reasonably believes that he or she has been bullied at work may apply to the FWC for an order under section 789FF.
(2) For the purposes of this Part, worker has the same meaning as in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, but does not include a member of the Defence Force.
Note: Broadly, for the purposes of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, a worker is an individual who performs work in any capacity, including as an employee, a contractor, a subcontractor, an outworker, an apprentice, a trainee, a student gaining work experience or a volunteer.
(a) while the worker is at work in a constitutionally-covered business:
repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards the worker, or a group of workers of which the worker is a member; and
(b) that behaviour creates a risk to health and safety.
(2) To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not apply to reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner.
(3) If a person conducts a business or undertaking (within the meaning of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011) and either:
(iv) a body corporate incorporated in a Territory; or
(b) the business or undertaking is conducted principally in a Territory or Commonwealth place;
then the business or undertaking is a constitutionally-covered business.
(a) a worker has made an application under section 789FC; and
(i) the worker has been bullied at work by an individual or a group of individuals; and
(ii) there is a risk that the worker will continue to be bullied at work by the individual or group;
then the FWC may make any order it considers appropriate (other than an order requiring payment of a pecuniary amount) to prevent the worker from being bullied at work by the individual or group.
(2) In considering the terms of an order, the FWC must take into account:
(a) if the FWC is aware of any final or interim outcomes arising out of an investigation into the matter that is being, or has been, undertaken by another person or body--those outcomes; and
(b) if the FWC is aware of any procedure available to the worker to resolve grievances or disputes--that procedure; and
(c) if the FWC is aware of any final or interim outcomes arising out of any procedure available to the worker to resolve grievances or disputes--those outcomes; and
"To further your confidence, I hold a Master of Occupational Hygiene. Occupational hygiene is a specialised area of work health and safety, and studies include focus on ventilation systems and their potential impacts on worker health. I hope that my experience and qualifications, coupled with my review of this matter goes some way to allaying your concerns".
"With reference to your comments regarding transparency and accountability, I sincerely hope you're not suggesting that the WHS team or I have not been transparent or accountable. These are serious allegations to make".
"[Name] is a wonderful manager to work with, for the following reasons. I feel she is a supportive and kind team member. She never puts me under pressure. She is a great listener. I fell that [Name] trusts me, enabling me to perform my job and overcome challenges. Further, she always shares useful insights about what happens in the agency."
"I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for your unwavering support during this period. Your clear and unambiguous explanations have been invaluable to me."
"The evidence demonstrates on a number of occasions the Applicant has been unreasonable in his approaches to individual respondents. He's been unreasonable in his expectations of them. He has been unreasonable in terms of being rude to them on many occasions, and in terms of making allegations against people that were unfounded and unfair. The evidence shows in response to that behaviour each of the individual respondents was consistently professional, consistently calm, consistently kind, consistently considerate toward the applicant. On many occasions they would have been entitled to respond to the applicant's provocations in a much more robust manner than the manner in which they did respond. But they didn't do that. They were consistently professional and consistently restrained."
B Edghill of Sparke Helmore Lawyers for Australian Digital Health Agency.
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