Assistance to employees as plaintiffsAssistance to employees as plaintiffs

Assistance to employees as plaintiffs

19 Except in the case of actions for defamation, expenditure to assist an employee to institute proceedings in a matter arising from their employment may be approved where this is in the interests of the Commonwealth. For example, it may be appropriate to assist an employee to seek a restraining order against a person arising from alleged harassment in the workplace. 20 Expenditure is not to be approved to assist an employee to institute proceedings for defamation arising in the course of the performance of their duties (either for representation or the payment of legal costs). Similarly, assistance is not to be provided for any other action relating to alleged defamation, such as assistance to uphold a person’s reputation, legally challenge comments damaging to a person’s reputation, or in obtaining an apology (as distinct from a letter merely seeking to correct the record). The policy is the same even if the employee offers to pay to the Commonwealth any damages which they may receive. (Funding defamation proceedings could give rise to a public perception that the Government was seeking to prevent legitimate criticism.)