Oceania: Employment and HR

Certain obligations, including tax, superannuation, workplace safety and environmental compliance, can apply directly to directors even where work is outsourced.

On 4 December 2025, ASIC published Report 827, Insights from the ASIC Whistleblower Questionnaire: July 2024 to June 2025 (Report).

New protections have commenced for independent contractors alleging unfair contract terms.

We also share insights from the International Labour Market Update report, which indicate Australia’s competitiveness as a skilled migrant destination.

In this special crossover episode of Inside Employment and Inside Safety, Steve Bell, Tony Wood and Lucy Boyd explore the increasingly complex regulatory landscape facing Australian employers and the growing scrutiny from workplace, safety and human rights regulators.

New South Wales has introduced mandatory compliance with minister-approved codes of practice under section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, requiring businesses to either follow published codes or implement equivalent or higher safety standards. This legislative change exposes non-compliant businesses to separate penalties beyond existing duty of care obligations, marking a significant shift from the previous evidentiary role of codes in most Australian jurisdictions.

The Fair Work Commission has announced significant changes to employment law taking effect from July 2026, including increases to the National Minimum Wage and award wages, adjustments to unfair dismissal thresholds, and new requirements for superannuation payments. These changes will impact employers across Australia, requiring careful review of obligations under modern awards and enterprise agreements to ensure compliance and avoid penalties.

Significant workplace relations changes are set to take effect from 1 July 2026, impacting both employers and employees across Australia.

The NSW Government faces a complex challenge in regulating employee social media activity, particularly when public sector workers engage in political commentary outside of work

A Federal Circuit and Family Court decision has established that contractors and customers can be held liable for sexually harassing employees under the Fair Work Act's 2023 provisions. The case resulted in $103,000 in damages and demonstrates how workplace sexual harassment laws extend far beyond traditional employer-employee relationships to encompass all work-connected interactions.

Recent decisions of the Fair Work Commission (Commission) offer timely and practical guidance for employers navigating one of the most sensitive aspects of the employment relationship — termination.

The Full Federal Court's decision in Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd v Tickle clarifies the framework for establishing gender identity discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, determining that exclusion based on appearance characteristics that appertain to transgender women constitutes direct rather than indirect discrimination. The ruling has sparked debate about proposed legislative reforms that would define 'man' and 'woman' strictly by biological sex at birth, potentially impacting transgender rig