Council worker sacked over objection to acknowledgment of country at golf when boss did his training courses

A Melbourne council relied on records showing a street sweeper had completed modules to justify his sacking for objecting to an acknowledgement of country — but he was on leave at the time the courses were completed.

Shaun Turner was on holidays playing golf and didn't complete training modules Darebin Council used as a reason to sack him following his acknowledgment of country comments.

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A Melbourne council relied on records showing a street sweeper had completed online modules about workplace policies including racial discrimination to justify his sacking for objecting to an acknowledgement of country but the worker was on holidays playing golf at the time the courses were completed.

As legal experts said the Darebin council’s handling of the unfair sacking of Shaun Turner to be a case study in how not to go about a dismissal, evidence to the Fair Work Commission showed the training courses were completed, in Mr Turner’s absence, by his boss, who had logged in with Mr Turner’s password and completed the courses because he had become annoyed at getting noti­fications to complete them.

Commission deputy president Richard Clancy said the council produced and relied upon a “Record of Learning Report” to demonstrate Mr Turner completed online course training in relation to its equal employment policy and code of conduct in March 2023.

Subsequent evidence showed Mr Turner was on leave during this period, did not have access to a computer while on leave, and his unchallenged account was that he had been playing golf at the specific times that the two courses were said to have been completed.

Despite this, the council maintained the records indicated Mr Turner completed the e-courses on the specified dates, and the records could only have been generated by the use of Mr Turner’s private credentials at the specific times and dates.

“Mr Turner’s response to this was that that his team leader knew his password and had told him when he returned from his annual leave that he (the team leader) had in fact undertaken the training courses in Mr Turner’s name because he was ‘annoyed’ at receiving the notifications sent to him outlining that they had not yet been completed,” Mr Clancy said

Workplace law expert Andrew Stewart said the council’s conduct was a “case study in how not to go about a dismissal”.

“This is one where the council really should have been aware that this was likely to be pursued and should have been more careful about the way they went through the process,” he said. “But clearly the commission wasn’t satisfied that they even reached the point of establishing a valid reason for dismissal, let alone went about the dismissal in a fair way.

“Does this mean that if somebody else objects to welcome to country acknowledgments or ceremonies that they can’t be dismissed? No.

“It just depends on how the employer handles it but critically, too, the way in which the objection is voiced.

“Every case is going to depend on its facts.”

Contacted by The Australian, the council declined to comment on whether Mr Turner would be reinstated after the commission this week upheld his unfair dismissal claim.

Mr Turner was dismissed after questioning why the acknowledgement of country was being made for the first time at a meeting of the street cleaning team.

He had told the meeting that “if you need to be thanking anyone, it’s the people who have worn the uniform and fought for our country to keep us free”.

“It’s getting out of hand and people are losing it, it is now being done at the opening of a postage stamp,” Mr Turner later told ­council officers who were investigating his alleged “serious ­misconduct”.

“I don’t need to be welcomed into my own country,” Mr Turner said.

In a statement, Darebin chief executive Michael Tudball said the council “respects the court process and authority” of the commission.

“We want to take this opportunity to reiterate our unwavering commitment to providing everyone with a safe working environment at Darebin,” Mr Tudball said.

“That includes physical safety, cultural safety, and emotional safety.

“At council, we have an ongoing commitment to recognise, respect and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures in the community and our organisation.”