Altintas v O'Dea Lawyers
Citation: [2018] FCAFC 165
At a glance
- Employees affected
- 1
What happened
In 2015, Sera Altintas filed an application in the South Australian Industrial Relations Court seeking payment of amounts allegedly owed to her under the Clerks Private Sector Award 2010 for work performed in March and April 2015. The total claimed was $3,189.30 plus pecuniary penalty. An Industrial Magistrate largely dismissed her application, conceding only four hours of unpaid work on 13 April 2015. Altintas then appealed to the South Australian Employment Tribunal.
What was decided
The Federal Court declined to answer a reserved question about whether the South Australian Employment Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear Altintas's appeal. The court found that the SAET did not have jurisdiction to determine the appeal from the Magistrate's decision. The appeal route was determined by section 565 of the Fair Work Act, which provides that appeals from state and territory courts exercising Fair Work jurisdiction must go to the Federal Court in some circumstances, not to state tribunals.
What it means for employers
This case clarifies jurisdictional pathways for employment disputes and should not affect ordinary employment practices.
What it means for employees
Employees must understand the correct appeal pathway for employment disputes involving federal awards. State and territory tribunals may not have jurisdiction to hear certain employment law appeals.
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.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/full/2018/2018fcafc0165Want 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.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. Full-corpus advisor access is a paid product — Business Solo from $99/mo, 50% off your first 3 months for the first 100 signups.
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections →