The line between a discussion and a drill just became legally significant
When safety training went undocumented and a cash side job came to light, a Perth skipper's dismissal held up in court.
On February 19, 2026, Fair Work Commissioner Lim dismissed an unfair dismissal application by Adam Garnaut, a vessel master employed by Boundary Lane Pty Ltd, a small Perth marine tourism company. The Commission found the company had lawfully terminated Garnaut on January 10, 2025, for serious misconduct.
Garnaut had been employed since May 15, 2023, responsible for crew training, passenger safety, and regulatory compliance across two charter vessels. The cracks appeared at a skipper meeting on November 29, 2024, when management discovered that none of the skippers had participated in any onboard emergency drills across 29 completed charters. No fire evacuation, no man overboard, no abandon ship.
An independent survey of one vessel, the Serendipitous, delivered December 12, 2024, found no compliant lifejackets on board, no approved fire control plan, no general alarm system, and an incomplete set of emergency plans. The Australian Marine Safety Authority issued a formal Detention Notice on December 19, 2024. A survey of the second vessel, the Quintessential, on December 31, 2024, found largely the same.
Garnaut maintained he had run training sessions: seated discussions around a dining table about hypothetical emergency scenarios. The Commission was unimpressed. "A drill is not...
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