General protections: What's next for employers?

The general protections waters continue to be muddied, as an employer recently admitted to liability in the Federal Court for threatening to take adverse action based on prohibited reasons revealed in its own internal commercial documents.

In this In Brief, we examine the Federal Court's penalty decision in National Tertiary Education Industry Union v Swinburne University of Technology (No 2) [2015] FCA 1080 (8 October 2015) and consider its broader implications.

BACKGROUND

In addition to tertiary courses, Swinburne University of Technology (Swinburne UT) also offers pre-university programs and intensive English language courses for overseas students. These courses are delivered through 'Swinburne College', an organisational department of Swinburne UT.