Judge backs SBS after producer with chronic conditions seeks full-time WFH
SBS lawfully fired a long‑serving radio producer who wanted to work from home indefinitely, after a judge ruled studio attendance was essential to her job.
In a 23 December 2025 decision, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia dismissed claims by former SBS Greek program producer Efstathia Papaemanouil that the broadcaster had unlawfully discriminated against her and taken adverse action when it refused permanent work-from-home arrangements and later terminated her employment.
Papaemanouil started with SBS in June 2012 and, before the pandemic, worked as Producer – Greek Language Program in the Audio & Language Content division. The role, the court noted, involved presenting audio content on air, including live interviews and news, and operating studio equipment at SBS’s Melbourne studios in Federation Square.
Like many Victorian staff, she shifted to full-time remote work from around March 2020 under temporary COVID-19 measures. She completed SBS’s “Temporary Working from Home Checklist,” and from April 2020 to January 2023 worked from home producing three news bulletins a day, plus interviews, current affairs content and settlement guides.
The turning point came in March 2022, when SBS announced that news segments for the Greek program would be produced and presented live in the studio from April. On 15 March 2022, Papaemanouil emailed management requesting to continue working from...
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