When a client ends the assignment, HR still needs the paper trail behind it
Labour hire employers still face HR risk when client site removals follow workplace complaints.
The Fair Work Commission’s decision in Kevin Austin v HSS Resources Pty Ltd [2026] FWC 2132, delivered on June 10, 2026, is a practical reminder for HR teams managing labour hire arrangements: a client may control access to its site, but the employer still needs a clear record of what happens next.
Kevin Austin started with HSS Resources Pty Ltd on October 28, 2025, as a casual dump truck operator. HSS assigned him to work at the MMS Tennant Creek Nobles Project, a fly-in, fly-out site operated by Mineral Mining Services Pty Ltd. On November 30, 2025, MMS told Austin he would be demobilised from the site. Austin then messaged HSS, saying he was shocked because he had just been told his employment had ended and that he would be flown back to Darwin.
The complaint that followed was not simply about losing a placement. Austin said that while he was on site, he had raised concerns with MMS about site safety, bullying and discrimination. His central claim was that his demobilisation was connected to those concerns. He alleged HSS was complicit in MMS’s decision to “terminate” him unlawfully, or alternatively, that HSS failed to investigate his concerns or challenge MMS after learning about them.
Austin filed his Fair Work application on December 22, 2025. The application named HSS and MMS as respondents, but...
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