A dismissal over seven‑year‑old misconduct has ended with a reinstated professor, testing how far HR policies reach into private messages and historic complaints.
On February 19, 2026, the Fair Work Commission Full Bench dismissed an appeal by the University of Melbourne, leaving in place an earlier ruling that the dismissal of a senior academic was unfair and that he should be reinstated with back pay.
At the centre of the case is Dr Matthai, a professor and Chair of Reservoir Engineering who supervised a PhD student referred to as AB. In May and June 2017, he exchanged a series of emails, text messages and calls with AB that the Commission later described as highly personal, intimate and romantic. Some of the contact occurred via his private email and outside campus, including an invitation to his birthday party.
The University's Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy was found to apply to all of those interactions, despite the off‑duty setting and private channels. As the Deputy President at first instance put it, "I consider that the workplace of an academic supervisor is present during any interaction with a PHD student."
AB was an international student who had recently arrived in Australia. From mid‑2017 she raised concerns informally with senior academics and human resources staff, saying she no longer wanted Dr Matthai as her supervisor. Evidence showed she feared a formal complaint would jeopardise her PhD and her position in Australia. The university changed her...
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