A trade union employee approached us after their dismissal. They initially assuming they had limited options because New South Wales’ anti-discrimination laws do not explicitly protect political opinions.
What they didn’t know was that the Commonwealth’s Fair Work Act can still provide a remedy: section 772 prohibits termination for reasons including political opinion. Through strategic legal analysis, we turned a difficult situation into a negotiated outcome, protecting their interests without lengthy court battles.
What Happened
Our client, an employee at a trade union, had their employment abruptly terminated. They believed their employer fired them due to widely known political opinions, not job performance.
The initial challenge was significant: there is no specific state law in New South Wales that explicitly protects employees from discrimination based on their political views. From a purely local perspective, it appeared that the client had no clear legal case for unlawful termination.
What We Did
Refusing to accept the limitations of state legislation, our legal team broadened the scope of our research to federal law. We identified a crucial, overriding protection within the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Specifically, Section 772(1)(f) of the Act states that an employer must not terminate an employee’s employment for reasons that include their “political opinion.”
This federal provision was the key. It established a national standard of protection that applies to most employees in Australia, regardless of gaps in state-level laws. Using this statutory protection, we proved to the employer that the termination breached federal law and was unlawful.
The Outcome
We used a targeted, evidence-based approach and staged negotiation to secure a mutual agreement that met the client’s priorities. This avoided lengthy litigation and achieved a practical remedy for an initially unpromising claim.
The client was satisfied with the outcome and the process—they felt heard, validated, and protected without the stress of a drawn-out court case. The matter also illustrates an important lesson for employees and employers alike: political opinion can be a protected reason under the Fair Work Act, and what looks at first like an absence of protection at state level may still give rise to federal remedies.
