the Applicant v Australian Postal Corporation
At a glance
- 1
What happened
the Applicant was employed by Australia Post as National Compensation Manager working on 'Project Dove', a project designed to change how Australia Post handled employees receiving workers' compensation. A union official made a telephone call to Australia Post CEO on 5 February 2016 threatening to leak confidential documents about Project Dove to media and politicians, arrange protest rallies, pursue industrial action, and take legal action unless the Applicant was removed from his position and the project was cancelled.
What was decided
The court addressed preliminary procedural questions about whether the union and a union official, having tendered documentary exhibits, could still make a 'no case to answer' submission. The court held they retained the capacity to do so and that the trial judge had discretion to entertain such a submission. The substantive case proceeded to hearing on the Applicant's allegations of contraventions of ss 348 and 355 of the Fair Work Act (coercion of the employer regarding employment of a particular person).
What it means for employers
Union officials cannot use threats or coercive tactics to force employers to take adverse action against specific employees. Threatening industrial action, legal action, or media campaigns to force removal of an employee may contravene coercion provisions.
What it means for employees
Employees are protected from union coercion aimed at affecting their employment. A union cannot threaten or coerce an employer into taking action that disadvantages an employee based on the employee's involvement in particular work.
Want this applied to your situation?
Reading the decision is free. FairWork Mate goes further — it reads the full case library and applies precedents like this one to your specific facts, citing the cases as it reasons. General information, not a guaranteed outcome or legal advice.
Send your details to Liquid Employment Lawyers
Liquid Employment Lawyers is a paid legal service and our referral partner, not free Fair Work advice. FairWork Mate may receive a referral fee from Liquid Legal. Tell them what has happened and a member of their team will call you back. For free general guidance, use our tools or call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.
Prefer to read first? About Liquid Employment Lawyers · Not sure if you need a lawyer? Read the legal help guides
Want more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The AI advisor answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus — awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts — with a citation to the underlying decision on every answer.
FairWork Mate AI
This is one decision. Pro reads all of them.
Free case pages cite the top 250 decisions. Pro opens the full Fair Work Commission and Federal Court library, cross-references your own situation against it, and cites the decision behind every answer — plus document upload, so it can read your letter or contract line by line. 150 questions a month, cancel anytime.
Renews monthly at A$29.99 until you cancel. By continuing you agree to our Terms.
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.