Two years on rolling contracts, then a refusal - the tribunal saw the funding reason differently
A Queensland tribunal ordered a state department to make a two-year temporary worker permanent, finding its funding and vacancy reasons did not stack up.
The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission handed down its decision on July 3, 2026, setting aside a decision by the Department of Youth Justice and Victim Support to keep a two-year employee on a rolling contract instead of converting him to a permanent role.
The worker had been a Senior Assessor in the Financial Assistance Unit of Victim Assist Queensland since January 8, 2024. He reached two years of continuous service on January 8, 2026 - the trigger point at which, under the Public Sector Act 2022 (Qld), a department must review a non-permanent employee's status and decide whether to make the job permanent.
The department reviewed him and said no. Its decision notice, dated January 23, 2026, leaned on two reasons: the position was funded only to June 30, 2026, and no permanent roles were open in the work unit. The department framed these as "genuine operational requirements" that made conversion neither viable nor appropriate.
Two points were never contested. There was an ongoing need for the work, and the worker was suitable to do it. Once those are established, the Act says conversion should follow unless a genuine operational reason stands in the way.
The Commission found the department did not have one.
On...
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