Public Employment Commissioner Vicki Telfer admonished for conduct during Fair Work hearing

The public servant and her legal representative are accused of engaging in reprehensible conduct during a Fair Work hearing, where a witness was sent text messages while giving evidence under oath.

Public Employment Commissioner Vicki Telfer was criticised for downplaying the conduct during a Fair Work Commission hearing.

The Northern Territory’s top public servant and her legal representative have been accused of engaging in reprehensible conduct during a Fair Work Commission hearing, where a witness was sent text messages while giving evidence under oath.

FWC vice-president Ingrid Asbury criticised Public Employment Commissioner Vicki Telfer for downplaying the incident saying the conduct of the representative who sent the messages, and Ms Telfer’s attempts to justify her actions, were “reprehensible”.

The hearing related to a public servant claiming unfair dismissal over her termination for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

Ms Asbury’s decision, published last month, shows that when Department of Corporate and Digital Development CEO Kathleen Robinson was giving evidence, Ms Telfer’s representative was sending her text messages.

“Essentially the text messages were prompts to Ms Robinson in relation to substantive matters reminding her to make certain points,” Ms Asbury said in her decision.

“It is notable that at the time the conduct occurred, Ms Robinson was under either oath or affirmation.”

At the end of the day’s hearings, a second representative working for Ms Telfer drew her attention to the conduct.

Ms Telfer then sent an email to the Fair Work Commission member informing them “of the unfortunate sending of text messages” by her representative.

She said the representative “is a novice to Fair Work Commissioner hearings” and that Ms Robinson had not read the text messages while giving her evidence.

Fair Work Commission vice-president Ingrid Asbury criticised Public Employment Commissioner Vicki Telfer for downplays incident during hearing, labelling her efforts to justify her actions as ‘reprehensible’. Picture: Supplied

Ms Asbury was scathing of the representative’s conduct and Ms Telfer’s attempts to justify the behaviour.

“It is astonishing that any person with the smallest understanding of the proceedings could have thought it was appropriate to send Ms Robinson text messages to prompt her in relation to her evidence and would not have understood that this was unethical conduct,” she wrote in her decision.

“The description of the text messages as ‘unfortunate’ is an understatement. Both the conduct and its attempted justification are reprehensible.”

Ms Asbury also questioned Ms Telfer’s claims that her representative was a “novice”, noting she held the “senior role of Principal Consultant to the Commissioner for Public Employment”.

“The conduct and the attitude to it would be even more alarming if the person who engaged in it is the same person who appears on various websites which state that a person with the same name is admitted as a legal practitioner,” she said.

She also questioned why Ms Telfer had not supplied an affidavit to support her statement that Ms Robinson had not read the text messages.

The conduct forced the commission to re-hear the case, which was later dismissed.

Ms Telfer did not answer questions about the identity of her representative or what their legal qualifications were.

“As soon as I become aware of it I made a full and honest disclosure and assessment of the circumstances to the Fair Work Commissioner,” she said in a statement.

“I also included the Applicant and her representative in that disclosure email. That was the ethical and right thing to do.

“I formed a firm view that my staff member had acted inappropriately but that this was out of ignorance and not out of motivation to breach any principles and protocols of the giving of evidence requirements.

“There is no question that my representative’s behaviour was entirely inappropriate and a serious breach of the giving and obtaining of evidence principles and protocols.

“Subsequent to notifying the FWC immediately of the incident, later that day I met with the officer and counselled them about the seriousness of the incident.”

Public Employment Minister Paul Kirby said he still had confidence in Ms Telfer.

“The Commissioner for Public Employment has acknowledged the seriousness of the incident and has provided managerial guidance to the employee involved,” he said.

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