Street sweeper Shaun Turner wins at FWC against Darebin Council over Acknowledgement of Country sacking
Shaun Turner, a street sweeper with Darebin City Council, was dismissed from his full-time position at the council in June last year following interruptions he made to acknowledgment remarks at an earlier meeting in April.
The council claimed he said 'the Acknowledgement of Country is not necessary' and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders 'do not deserve an acknowledgment at the start of meetings'.
The council also accused him of speaking in a tone that was perceived as disrespectful, sarcastic and aggressive.
Mr Turner claimed he had simply questioned why the acknowledgment statement was necessary because it was the first time it had been done at a toolbox meeting and said 'if we need to be thanking anyone it's the people who have worn the uniform and fought for out country to keep us free'.
He also denied speaking in the aggressive or inappropriate tone.
The council also claimed he made a derogatory comment about a colleague, but Mr Turner said he was 'entrapped' or induced to do so by a council officer.
At later a meeting in May, Mr Turner also said 'it is getting out of hand and people are losing it, it is now being done at the opening of a postage stamp' and 'I don't need to be welcomed into my own country'.
An Acknowledgement of Country is a common practice that regularly precedes formal events where a speaker recognises the traditional Indigenous custodians of the land where the event or meeting takes place.
The council delivered its termination letter to Mr Turner on June 3, claiming he had 'not provided a work environment that fostered mutual respect and working relationships free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation' and had 'engaged in racial discrimination and vilification by inciting and encouraging hatred, serious contempt for, revulsion or serious ridicule against another person because of their race'.
But this week, FWC deputy president William Clancy ruled that Mr Turner's dismissal was 'harsh' and 'unreasonable' and employees did not need to 'act in complete deference to their employer's views'.
'The proposition underlying the respondent's (Darebin council) case appears to be that there will be a valid reason for dismissal if an employee fails to act in complete deference to their employer's views and, moreover, does not adopt them,' he said.
'I do not accept this proposition.
'In the absence of a single witness to his actions attesting to having felt disrespect, Mr Turner was dismissed because he did not embrace the delivery of an Acknowledgement of Country at a toolbox meeting and instead employed sarcasm when expressing his opinion that Acknowledgements of Country are at risk of being overused.'
Mr Clancy found the worker had declared that acknowledgments were warranted on special occasions.
'Offence was taken because Mr Turner held a contrary view,' Mr Clancy said.
He also found the council's termination letter contained errors.
'The respondent (council) asserted in the termination letter that … Mr Turner confirmed he had said 'the Acknowledgment of Country is not necessary' and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders 'do not deserve an acknowledgment at the start of meetings' … This is not correct,' Mr Clancy said.
'Mr Turner did not confirm these two statements at that meeting.'
He also rejected Mr Turner's alleged inappropriate tone as a valid reason for dismissal.
Darebin chief executive Michael Tudball, in a statement from Thursday morning, said the council respected the court process and FWC's authority.
'I want to take this opportunity to reiterate our unwavering commitment to providing everyone with a safe working environment at Darebin,' he said.
'That includes physical safety, cultural safety, and emotional safety.
'At council we have an ongoing commitment to recognise, respect and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures in the community and our organisation.'
Mr Turner is seeking to be reinstated to his job.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Housing to be a focus at the upcoming economic roundtable
JACOB GREBER, POLITICAL EDITOR: It's one of the biggest challenges facing the country and it's at the heart of the government's reform agenda. JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: We have got a very big, broad, ambitious housing agenda, which is about building more homes, because that's the best way that we provide more affordable options for people who are trying to get a toehold in a difficult market. JACOB GREBER: But it's in places like the Wollondilly region on the outskirts of Sydney where rhetoric splits from reality. Cassandra Mast and her siblings used an inheritance from their mother to invest in land believing it would be the pathway to building a new, affordable home. CASSANDRA MAST, HOME BUILDER: We wanted to do something that would honour her, and she was always about welcoming people into her home, making sure anyone in trouble had a place to stay. JACOB GREBER: After buying a half-acre block last year almost two years after the previous owners began the process of subdividing it – the project remains mired in red tape. CASSANDRA MAST: We've had to remove so many trees and so many plants for the fire regulation even though the fire rating was downgraded, in between the time first application was made and us starting construction. JACOB GREBER: Anyone doing a renovation or building a home knows exactly how Cassandra Mast feels. CLARE O'NEIL, HOUSING MINISTER: We've got too much red tape and regulation; we are not seeing enough innovation in housing. JACOB GREBER: Housing Minister Clare O'Neil has been touring the country in the leadup to next week's roundtable talking to home builders, who've been telling a familiar story. CLARE O'NEIL: We had a good chat with one of the builders here before and he said to me, you know, a decade ago, the hard part about building a house in this country was the actual building. The problem now sits in the approvals and the delays. JACOB GREBER: Building houses in Australia has become more challenging, tangled in paperwork, and costly. According to a recent study by the Housing Industry Association, almost half the million-dollar cost of a house and land package in Sydney goes into regulatory fees, taxes, and delay. JOCELYN MARTIN, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: It is made up of cascading taxes like stamp duty and GST. It can take up to almost 12 months for a planning approval to take place and then of course for the build itself to take place. JACOB GREBER: Few dispute that housing has become one of the worst inter-generational fairness issues of our time. But unlike previous efforts to fix the problem via demand-boosting incentives like first-home buyer grants - the benefits of which have often flowed to older generations of sellers - the emphasis today and next week's roundtable is about increasing supply. JOCELYN MARTIN: We are hoping that there will be discussions around how to make the delivery of housing more productive, how to address significant amounts of regulation and red tape, to look at all the things that are holding back the delivery of housing supply. JACOB GREBER: The much-hyped economic roundtable is all about momentum building. Three days of talks have been scheduled. The only problem? The government 's messaging over how ambitious they should be has risen and fallen like the tide. JIM CHALMERS (17 June): I expect, I anticipate, I welcome tax being an important part of the conversation. ANTHONY ALBANESE (7 August): The only tax policy that we're implementing is the one we took to the election. JACOB GREBER: The whiplash has stoked speculation of tension between the Prime Minister and his Treasurer. Though both are denying it today. SALLY SARA, RADIO NATIONAL: Are you and the Prime Minister in lockstep about what this roundtable will ultimately achieve? JIM CHALMERS: Completely. ANTHONY ALBANESE: We talk every week, almost every day. We talked yesterday. We talk every day, either in person or exchange messages. JIM CHALMERS: I think it has been a very worthwhile thing that we are shaking the tree for ideas and the Prime Minister and I are aligned in the way we go about that. ANTHONY ALBANESE: We are up for big reform, whether it's strengthening Medicare, the changes to childcare, the benefit to education. JACOB GREBER: Despite the bold talk and the Prime Minister and Treasurer's media blitz of the last few days – almost pre-budget-like in its intensity - it's far from clear what the roundtable will ultimately achieve. For now, major tax reform is off the table, unions are pushing for regulation of artificial intelligence and a four-day work week. But as we've seen, it's in housing where hopes are highest. JOCELYN MARTIN: It is a slow ship to turn around, but we are seeing some changes. JACOB GREBER: For people trying to build homes now, it can't happen fast enough. CASSANDRA MAST: If we can add a home, and someone else can add a home, and someone else can add a home, we won't have a housing problem. We don't need huge developments.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘On notice': NSW government pushes ahead in early childcare sector inquiry
Childcare and early learning centres in NSW have been put on notice that the 'days of pretending to improve while nothing is done are over', with centres failing children to face a crackdown. Acting Education and Early Learning Minister Courtney Houssos has announced a list of changes coming for the sector, including the launch of an independent regulator agency and providing parents with 'increased information' and 'transparency for the community'. Former deputy NSW Ombudsman Chris Wheeler was commissioned to conduct an independent review into the sector in February after a rise in safety breaches in the sector last year. A list of proposed reforms was released in June. Speaking to media on Wednesday, Ms Houssos welcomed feedback for its reforms into the childhood sector. 'We will be increasing the fines on individual centres,' she said. 'And we will be, as the Wheeler Review recommended, establishing a trial of CCTV cameras.' Ms Houssos said while there were many early 'fantastic' learning centres across the state, the underperforming centres had been put on notice. 'The time for the days are pretending to improve while nothing is done are over,' she said. 'We are really clear that we will be cracking down on those centres who are not delivering for those safe and quality environments for parents and for children. 'We take this responsibility incredibly seriously, that's why we have such a comprehensive program of reform.' However, in response to the reforms, early educator Rebecca Saville argued the changes were a 'Band-Aid fix', In a letter penned to the federal Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh, Ms Saville said the sector didn't need announcements, but rather an 'overhaul' of 'how the sector is funded, staffed, regulated, and respected'. 'I was prompted to write the letter because I was hearing of other educators' concerns within the sector and how the new safety measures don't address the issues at heart and are a Band-Aid fix,' she said per The Daily Telegraph. Ms Houssos told media on Wednesday the government was working with ministers from across the country on the reforms, which she hopes would be 'pursued at a national level'. 'We have a sense of urgency for the reforms that we're pursuing,' she said. 'And we are going to get these changes under way.' 'We are hamstrung by the national law, but this is law that does pass through each of the individual parliaments,' she added. 'I want to be clear under performing centres that the time of pretending to improve while nothing is done are over.'
SBS Australia
4 hours ago
- SBS Australia
‘It's largely meaningless': Marco Rubio rebukes Australia's support of Palestinian Statehood
'It's largely meaningless': Marco Rubio rebukes Australia's support of Palestinian Statehood Published 13 August 2025, 9:32 am The Australian Government maintains Palestinian statehood will isolate Hamas, after Hamas praised the move to recognition. The Prime Minister is under pressure to explain how he will ensure the Palestinian Authority can deliver on its assurances to demilitarise and uphold democracy.
