ACT Government told to pay $265,000 after discriminating against employee

A former employee of the ACT Government has been awarded about $265,000 after she was found to have been discriminated against due to her irrelevant criminal record.

The woman successfully sued the government, represented by the Community Services Directorate, in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT).

The mother-of-two endured a life of hardship and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Senior Member Bryan Meagher SC said in his decision that was published on Wednesday (4 December).

Between 2010 and 2017, she committed a number of crimes, including dishonesty and conspiracy in the sale of a prohibited drug. She then committed two misdemeanours, the last of which was in 2021.

She also applied for a job with the government in 2021, informing it of her criminal record. At first, she wasn’t successful due to this record, but after she complained to the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the government began employing her in temporary positions in late 2021.

Then, in March 2023, she was told that her application for a permanent position at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) had been successful and that she could finish her current temporary role at the Community Services Directorate and start there in late April 2023.

However, on 6 April 2023, the ACT Integrity Commission raided the woman’s home as part of its investigation into a person the woman had been seeing, even though there was no suggestion of wrongdoing by the woman herself.

The commission then told the government it found a government computer at her home and passed on her criminal record.

“The communication might well have been viewed as alarming by anyone who did not know all the facts,” Senior Member Meagher said.

“Once the communication from the Integrity Commission was received by the [government], the person tasked with deciding what to do determined to immediately exclude the [woman] from access to the pay system; removed her from active work; placed her on paid ‘gardening leave’ until the end of the temporary contract; and determined her employment would not be renewed.

“This was all done without checking known records or providing notice to the [woman].”

He said that to compound matters, CIT withdrew its already-accepted job offer in May 2023 after asking the woman for her criminal record.

The woman made two complaints to the HRC about how the government and CIT had treated her.

“I feel like I am unfairly treated as I am a single mother of two children trying to work and show my children what a normal life is, and I feel like I just keep getting kicked down over and over again,” she wrote to the HRC before CIT withdrew its job offer.

Earlier this year, ACAT decided there was no discrimination by CIT. However, it found the government had discriminated against the woman in her employment due to her irrelevant criminal record.

The tribunal found the government discriminated against her by determining she could no longer have access to its systems, could no longer continue to perform her duties and would not be offered an extension to her fixed-term contract.

When speaking about the impact of the discrimination, the woman said she had her PTSD revived to a dramatic effect, causing her to cry uncontrollably when she did not expect it, and to relive her frightening and lonely past.

She said she hadn’t worked since the incidents as she had not yet worked up the resilience to risk more rejection.

A forensic psychiatrist said she suffered an exacerbation of her pre-diagnosed PTSD, for which he estimated she would need seven years of ongoing care.

“There is no doubt that she suffered a significant impact because of this action by the [government],” Senior Member Meagher said.

The government was ordered to pay the woman $265,372 in compensation for general damages, wage loss, future loss of earning capacity, future medical expenses and superannuation losses.

“We are aware of a recent decision handed down by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal involving an ex-employee of the Community Services Directorate,” an ACT Government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“The ACT Government, as represented by the Community Services Directorate, is considering its legal options, and hence it would be inappropriate to make comment at this time.”