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Qantas fined a record $90 million for illegally firing ground staff during pandemic

Qantas fined a record $90 million for illegally firing ground staff during pandemic

SBS Australia6 hours ago
Qantas fined a record $90 million for illegally firing ground staff during pandemic
Published 18 August 2025, 9:39 am
Qantas has been ordered to pay a $90 million penalty for the illegal outsourcing of 1,820 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key issues raised in the Federal Court judgment today was the question of whether Qantas is 'truly sorry' or engaging in what the judge called 'performative remorse'.
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Staff member at Endeavour Hills Specialist School charged with child sex abuse
Staff member at Endeavour Hills Specialist School charged with child sex abuse

ABC News

time5 hours ago

  • ABC News

Staff member at Endeavour Hills Specialist School charged with child sex abuse

A staffer at the Endeavour Hills Specialist School in Melbourne's south-east has been charged with child sexual abuse offences. In a letter to parents and carers, the school's principal said the charges related to Roshelle Kassab, an education support staff member employed at the school since January. "I acknowledge that this notification may trigger a range of emotions, and that it will impact people in different ways," the letter read. "Our student wellbeing team is available if your child is impacted by this news or any possible conversations about it by students on or outside of school grounds." The letter did not specify what the alleged offences were or whether they took place at the school. Opened in 2022, Endeavour Hills Specialist School serves students with special needs, including intellectual disabilities and autism, from the ages of 5 to 18. The school had 225 students enrolled according to its latest census from August last year. A Department of Education spokesperson said the reports were concerning but did not comment further citing an ongoing police investigation. "Our current priority is to ensure full support is available to any students or staff impacted," the spokesperson said. Ms Kassab is no longer working at Endeavour Hills Specialist School. Victoria Police were not able to confirm details about the charges.

Australia has ‘big problems' as AI revolution creeps in
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News.com.au

time6 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Australia has ‘big problems' as AI revolution creeps in

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has warned millions of Aussies could lose their jobs, drawing parallels between AI's growing presence in Australian workplaces and working from home. Joyce criticised a new proposal from the Australian Services Union (ASU), which calls for employers to be required to give employees six months' notice before mandating a return to the office. The union also proposes that work-from-home requests should be presumed approved unless an employer validly objects, with any changes to arrangements also subject to the same six-month notice. The union also argues that employers must genuinely attempt to reach an agreement with the employee, respond within 14 days to work-from-home requests, and if refusing, set out the business grounds for doing so. But Joyce says that's all 'absurd'. 'What you're doing there is encouraging people not to employ people. You can't just say you're going to work from home today or you won't have a job,' he said on Channel 7's Sunrise. 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A recent Ipsos survey showed that while 40 per cent of workers believe AI makes jobs easier, roughly the same proportion (39 per cent ) worry about security. Academic analysis reveals that AI is increasing demand for complementary human skills, including digital literacy, teamwork, and resilience, but is quickly diminishing roles tied to repetitive skills. Net demand for human skills is rising, especially where AI augments rather than replaces.

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's mate Tim Johnston allegedly tried to get Seb Robinson's diary from hospital
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's mate Tim Johnston allegedly tried to get Seb Robinson's diary from hospital

News.com.au

time6 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's mate Tim Johnston allegedly tried to get Seb Robinson's diary from hospital

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's mate allegedly went to the hospital room of a paraplegic and recently comatose pilot to pick up his diary, a jury has heard. Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice during the investigation into a chopper crash that killed his co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson on February 28, 2022. It has been alleged Mr Wright engaged in a 'pattern' of failing to accurately record flight times for the crashed helicopter to avoid costly maintenance requirements. Prosecutor Jason Gullaci has alleged Mr Wright knew, and attempted to cover up, the helicopter carrying his two friends and employees should never have flown that fateful morning due to these service requirements. Sebastian Robinson, the pilot and sole survivor, was allegedly visited by work friend Tim Johnston in his Brisbane Hospital room days after the catastrophic crash. On Friday, his brother Jacob Robinson told the jury a stranger, Mr Johnston, introduced himself as Mr Wright's colleague and asked for the injured pilot's phone and a book. 'It just looked like a diary. I wasn't too sure,' Jacob said. He alleged Mr Johnson said 'Matty sent him to grab it' and 'We really, really need the logbook'. Jacob said he 'felt pressured' into giving him the book, but refused to hand over his brother's phone. 'As soon as I gave it to him, he's pretty much took off,' Jacob said. He said as soon as their mother, Nolene Chellingworth, returned she 'started crying and said I shouldn't have done that'. 'Hallucinating' Jacob said Ms Chellingworth called Mr Johnston back, and he returned the pilot's book. On Monday, Mr Robinson's girlfriend Rhanii Lee said she also remembered the 'very emotional' Mr Johnson asking for Mr Robinson's book before leaving. Mr Robinson said he was still heavily sedated, under a lot of medication and 'hallucinating' when Mr Wright and his wife Kaia allegedly visited him 11 days after the catastrophic crash, on March 11. The paraplegic man alleged his boss asked him to transfer a 'few hours' from the crashed chopper — with the call sign IDW — to Mr Robinson's personal Robinson R-44, call sign ZXZ. 'He mentioned something about CASA and then potentially transferring hours over from IDW to ZXZ. Mr Robinson has conceded he was 'behind a few entries' on his personal chopper's maintenance release, missing almost three months of entries back to early December. But Mr Wright's defence senior counsel David Edwardson said the young pilot was 'hopelessly behind' on his paperwork. He said Mr Robinson was under Mr Wright's Air Operator's Certificate, and as such his boss was 'ultimately responsible' he was compliant with aviation laws. Mr Edwardson suggested Mr Wright was making sure his pilot's records were 'up to speed', but Mr Robinson maintained he was asked to manipulate his records. The young pilot has acknowledged he initially lied to air crash investigators because he was 'worried and panicked' about his own underreporting of hours. He said it was 'common practice in the industry' — including at Mr Wright's Helibrook — for pilots to not record flight hours and to disconnect the Hobbs Meter, similar to a car's odometer. 'I worked for Helibrook and all the aircraft were never kept up to date,' he said. The now paraplegic pilot with a traumatic brain injury revealed to the jury he has not received any workers' compensation in the wake of the crash. He said since he started as an egg collector at just 18 years old, he was led to believe he would be covered as a subcontractorof Wild Harvest NT. 'I was led to, everyone was led to believe that everyone in the egg collection was covered by worker's compensation,' Mr Robinson said. 'As I progressed into flying I always assume that ... WHNT covered everyone's worker's compensation, that I did not need to have my own worker's compensation.' Mr Robinson said when he took off the morning of the fatal crash, he believed he would be covered either by WHNT or Mr Wright's Helibrook. Now bound to a wheelchair, Mr Robinson said finding out he would never walk again was 'the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life'. 'Learning that you've got a severed spinal cord... you can't think, you can't say, you know, you're scared,' he said. 'I wouldn't wish that experience upon anyone'. The trial continues on Tuesday.

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