Wodonga Red Rooster fined but avoids conviction over child employment offences

The cock has crowed for Wodonga Red Rooster as the owners are slammed over abusing child employment laws on more than 150 occasions over six months.

The now closed Red Rooster Wodonga has faced court over not following child labour laws regarding children under the age of 15, after committing more than 150 offences over a six month period.

A fast food chain at the border of Victoria and NSW has been slammed for breaking child employment laws more than 150 times.

The owners of Wodonga Red Rooster pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on February 9 to 29 consolidated charges related to violating the Victorian Child Employment Act more than 150 times over a six-month period.

The court heard 10 children were employed by the border-town franchise and either worked more than the delegated three hours at a time permitted by the act or weren’t supervised by a person with a valid working with children check.

Wodonga Food Pty Ltd’s lawyer Luke Russell, said the company had not realised they were breaking Victorian legislation, but once they were notified, immediately complied.

“They were complying with NSW law, but that is irrelevant across the river,” he said.

The owners of Wodonga Red Rooster own six other franchises in NSW.

“Obviously this is a case of inadvertence and as soon as the company became aware, they ceased employing the children.”

The court heard Wodonga Food Pty Ltd runs six franchises in NSW, with Wodonga Red Rooster being its only Victorian outlet and was acting on the information in a pack provided by the Red Rooster cooperation.

Magistrate Timothy Gattuso agreed the pack had been “misleading” but the onus was still on the franchisee to know which laws they should abide by.

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse, these laws are in place not to prohibit children from being employed but to protect them,” he said.

Mr Gattuso said the offending fit the criteria for inadvertent conduct due to the cooperation of the company once they were made aware of the offending.

“A failure to comply here must be viewed more leniently, as this was not deliberate noncompliance,” he said.

Mr Gattuso fined Wodonga Food Pty Ltd $5500 plus $4000 in costs without conviction.

The Wodonga Red Rooster remains closed.

After the court case, Wage Inspectorate Victoria commissioner Robert Hortle said Red Rooster was the kind of business where many children got their first jobs.

“Businesses shouldn’t expect to get away with breaking child employment laws – community members look out for the wellbeing of kids and will tip us off when they see something of concern, particularly in close-knit regional towns,” he said.

“The Magistrate referred to information provided by the franchisor which contained incorrect information about Victoria’s child employment laws. We’re looking to franchisors, particularly large, well-resourced corporations, to show leadership in this space and ensure their franchisees comply with child employment laws.”

“The greatest risk of flouting child employment laws is a kid getting hurt in the workplace, but this outcome shows there are financial and reputational risks too.”

“The Wage Inspectorate took 11 businesses to court last year over alleged child employment breaches and we saw businesses convicted and fined up to $10,000.”