A high-profile internal conflict rocking Australia’s top workplace adjudication body, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), has drawn federal government attention, with Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth declining to close the door on official intervention as she reviews new complaints surrounding a 2021 homophobic slur incident.
The controversy dates back to 2021, when FWC Commissioner Jennifer Hunt was recorded using a homophobic slur during an official work function. Then-FWC President Ian Ross subsequently issued formal counselling to Hunt over the comment, after multiple members of staff present raised formal objections to the language. Hunt has since confirmed the incident took place in comments to *The Australian*, but has pushed back against claims the comment was intended to cause harm. She has further alleged that internal details of her counselling and the incident were intentionally leaked as part of a coordinated campaign to damage her professional reputation, tying the leak directly to a long-running personal dispute with FWC Vice-President Ingrid Asbury.
The conflict escalated when Asbury formally lodged a complaint with Minister Rishworth, calling for Hunt to be suspended or removed from her position as commissioner. The two parties reached a procedural settlement this week, following an independent inquiry led by retired Federal Court Judge Alan Robertson. In a joint public statement released this week, Hunt accepted Robertson’s findings, which dismissed all of her complaints against Asbury and current FWC President Adam Hatcher. As part of the settlement, Hunt agreed to withdraw her formal request for the full public release of the inquiry report and to remove a related public post calling for release that she had shared on her professional LinkedIn account.
Speaking to Sky News about the ongoing internal dispute, Rishworth acknowledged the FWC’s status as a critically important Australian institution, noting that public trust in the tribunal is non-negotiable. Rishworth referenced a previous independent inquiry she commissioned into earlier allegations related to the incident, which returned no formal actionable findings, requiring no further government action at that time. She confirmed that new allegations and formal complaints have now been brought forward, and that her office is currently seeking formal guidance from her department on how to proceed.
When pressed on whether she would consider removing any FWC leadership or commissioner from their post over the incident, Rishworth repeatedly stated she would not pre-empt outcomes before receiving official departmental advice, stopping short of ruling out any potential intervention. Asked directly whether any senior officials would face termination over the controversy, Rishworth declined to comment, saying only that “it’s very important that I get the right advice” and that the FWC must retain public respect across the country, while refusing to be drawn into specific details of the ongoing conflict.