The penalty is along with the AUD 120 million ($78 million) in compensation that Australia’s largest airline had already agreed to pay its former staff.
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Australian Federal Court Justice Michael Lee mentioned the outsourcing of 1,820 baggage handler and cleaner jobs at Australian airports in late 2020 was the “largest and most important contravention” of related Australian labour legal guidelines of their 120-year historical past.
Qantas agreed in December final 12 months to pay AUD 120 million ($78 million) in compensation to former employees after seven High Court judges unanimously rejected the Sydney-based airline’s enchantment towards the judgment that outsourcing their jobs was unlawful.
The Transport Workers Union, which took the airline to courtroom, had argued the airline ought to obtain the biggest high-quality obtainable — AUD 12,12,12,000 ($7,89,69,735).
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Mr. Lee dominated that the minimal high-quality to create a deterrence ought to be AUD 90 million ($59 million), noting that Qantas executives had anticipated to save lots of AUD 125 million ($81 million) a 12 months by outsourcing the roles.
Mr. Lee questioned the sincerity of Qantas’s apology for its unlawful conduct, noting that the airline later unsuccessfully argued that it owed no compensation to its former employees.
“If any additional proof was wanted of the unrelenting and aggressive litigation technique adopted on this case by Qantas, it’s offered by this effort directed to denying any compensation by any means to these in respect of whom Qantas was publicly professing remorse for his or her misfortune,” Mr. Lee mentioned.
“I do suppose that the individuals accountable for Qantas now have some real remorse, however this extra seemingly displays the harm that this case has performed to the corporate relatively than regret for the harm performed to the affected employees,” Mr. Lee added.
“Qantas chief govt Vanessa Hudson, who was the airline’s chief monetary officer in the course of the layoffs,” mentioned in an announcement after Monday’s (August 18, 2025) resolution: “We sincerely apologise to every one of many 1,820 floor dealing with staff and to their households who suffered because of this.” “The resolution to outsource 5 years in the past, significantly throughout such an unsure time, prompted real hardship for a lot of of our former workforce and their households,” she mentioned.
“Over the previous 18 months we have labored onerous to alter the way in which we function as a part of our efforts to rebuild belief with our individuals and our clients. This stays our highest precedence as we work to earn again the belief we misplaced,” she added.
Mr. Lee dominated that AUD 50 million ($33 million) of the high-quality go to the union, as a result of no Australian authorities company had proven curiosity in investigating or prosecuting Qantas.
“But for the union … , Qantas’ contravening conduct would by no means have been uncovered and it will by no means have been held to account for its illegal conduct,” Mr. Lee mentioned.
“Hence the union has dropped at the eye of the courtroom a considerable and important transgression of a public obligation by a strong and substantial employer,” Mr. Lee added. A listening to will likely be held at a later date to determine the place the remaining AUD 40 million ($26 million) of the high-quality will go.
Michael Kaine, nationwide secretary of the union that represents 60,000 members, mentioned he felt vindicated by Monday’s ruling (August 18, 2025), which ends a five-year authorized battle that Qantas had been broadly anticipated to win.
“It is a big — essentially the most important — industrial end result in Australia’s historical past and it sends a extremely clear message to Qantas and to each employer in Australia: Treat your work drive illegally and you’ll be held accountable,” Mr. Kaine informed reporters.
“Against all the chances, we took on a behemoth that had proven itself to be ruthless and we received,” Mr. Kaine added. Qantas has admitted illegally coping with passengers in addition to staff in its responses to pandemic financial challenges.
Last 12 months, Qantas agreed to pay AUD 120 million ($78 million) in compensation and a high-quality for promoting tickets on hundreds of cancelled flights.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a client watchdog, sued the airline within the Federal Court alleging that Qantas engaged in false, deceptive or misleading conduct by promoting tickets for greater than 8,000 flights from May 2021 by to July 2022 that had already been cancelled.
