A former manager at Australia’s leading federally funded women’s safety organisation has accused the agency of denying her the right to return to her job after having a baby, exposing a stark loophole in the nation’s workplace protections.
Dr Elizabeth Watt, a former senior researcher at the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), spent three years pursuing legal action after being told she could not return to her pre-parental leave role.
The dispute escalated to the Federal Court last year, with Watt filing a statement of claim prepared by barrister Philip Boncardo – who recently represented broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf in her high-profile unfair dismissal case against the ABC. While the matter reached mediation, negotiations have been protracted because of Watt’s requests for a carve-out in the confidentiality clauses to allow her to use her experiences for research and advocacy.
“I tried to resolve this quietly for years,” Watt said in an interview on June 3, days before signing a legal document. “But when I was forced into a public court process and realised I had no legal right to my job after having a baby, I couldn’t stay silent any longer.”
At the centre of the dispute is Australia’s National Employment Standards (NES), where under current law, employees must complete 12 months of continuous service before they qualify for parental leave and the guaranteed right to return to their position.
Watt joined ANROWS in 2021 in a senior...
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