Street cleaner sacked for objecting to Acknowledgment of Country wins unfair dismissal against Darebin City Council

A street cleaner fired by Darebin City Council for questioning why an Acknowledgement of Country was being carried out at the start of a toolbox meeting has won his unfair dismissal case.

A street cleaner has won his unfair dismissal claim against Darebin City Council after he was fired for questioning an Acknowledgement of Country at a toolbox meeting.

Shaun Turner was sacked in June 2024 after he asked his colleague what he was doing when he started delivering an Acknowledgement of Country.

It was the first time one had been delivered during the weekly team meeting.

Shocked, Mr Turner interrupted and said: “Are you joking, this is meant for special occasions, next thing you know we will have it at the opening of a letter.”

He told the council’s waste co-ordinator James Stanfield, who was delivering the acknowledgment: “If you’re thanking anyone, you should be thanking the service people that had fought for the country”.

Mr Standfield raised “issues” about the conduct, calling it “unacceptable” — but he was not personally offended by Mr Turner’s behaviour.

Other workers said Mr Turner had remained “composed” and in no way been rude or disrespectful.

The Acknowledgement of Country had never been delivered at the toolbox meeting before. Picture: Jenny Evans

Council launched an investigation into the alleged misconduct and called Mr Turner, who had worked for council for seven years, into a meeting on May 21.

The council’s chief people officer Yvette Fuller questioned Mr Turner’s stance on Welcome to Country and told him: “We have very strong expectations that an Acknowledgment of Country is done before all formal meetings.”

Mr Turner replied: “Why didn’t we do it in this meeting then?”.

“It is getting out of hand and that is why people are losing it, it is now being done at a postage stamp,” he said.

“As far as I know half of us are born here, I don’t need to be welcomed to my own country. If people don’t want to be there, they can leave.”

Mr Turner asked in the meeting for “courtesy to step outside” during future acknowledgments.

“My job is to come to work to drive a street sweeper,” he said in his evidence.

“If you want to do a welcome to the meeting, fine, give people a choice to step outside. As I said not everyone holds the same beliefs. There’s what you may hold, and I will stick to that.

“It’s the country we live in, and at the moment we have free speech, and I believe I’ve got my right to my free speech.”

Council accused Mr Turner of engaging in racial discrimination, but the Fair Work Commission could not be pursuaded that this was true. Picture: David Smith

Council alleged Mr Turner had stated in its letter of termination to Mr Turner that he had said the acknowledgment was “not necessary” and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “do not deserve an acknowledgment at the start of meetings” during the toolbox meeting in April — but the commissioner was not pursuaded that these statements were made by Mr Turner.

Fair Work Commission deputy president Richard Clancy said Mr Tuner had instead expressed his opinion that acknowledgments were at risk of overuse, but had not threatened to disrupt them going forward.

He found Mr Turner’s termination was “unreasonable because there was no valid reason to dismiss him”.

Mr Clancy said the acknowledgment would have caught the team members “off guard” given it had never been done before the toolbox meeting.

He also ruled Mr Turner’s question of “are you joking?” was an “articulation of a reaction of surprise”, and said his use of sarcasm at the meeting was not intended to vilify.

“I consider it would be unreasonable to regard the incredulity of Mr Turner’s reaction to the Acknowledgement of Country without having regard to this context,” Mr Clancy said.

“I reiterate that even if the reasons for the dismissal relating to the comments about Acknowledgements of Country and Mr Turner’s colleague were regarded as valid, the dismissal was harsh because it was disproportionate having regard to context within which his comments were made and Mr Turner’s circumstances.”

Mr Clancy also noted that Mr Turner had been accompanied by an Indigenous support person at the formal investigation meeting, but that no Acknowledgement of Country had been made despite council’s apparent “very strong” expectations one by conducted before all formal meetings.

Fair Work found Mr Turner had been wrongfully dismissed. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

In its reasons for termination, council had also alleged that Mr Turner had made a derogatory comment about a colleague and “inappropriately discussed” that colleague’s employment details, including salary, with others.

But the commissioner found the statements made by Mr Turner about his colleague — who he called “a liar”, said he “runs his own race” and accused him of appointing himself to overtime — also had not warranted termination.

In his evidence, Mr Turner told Fair Work he believed he was “being made out to be a racist”.

“I’ve got to say that I was brought up on Broadmeadows. I come from a family of eight. My best friends out at Broadmeadows happen to be Aboriginals. One of them marrying my sister. I have a niece and great niece and nephews who are all Aboriginals,” Mr Turner said.

Mr Turner is seeking reinstatement from the council. Fair Work will now decide whether he should be reinstated or compensated for the unfair dismissal.

Darebin Council chief executive Michael Tudball said council respected the court process and authority of the Fair Work Commission.

“I want to take this opportunity to reiterate our unwavering commitment to providing everyone with a safe working environment at Darebin, that includes physical safety, cultural safety, and emotional safety,” he told the Herald Sun.

“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.”

Council refused to say if it would allow employees to step aside from acknowledgments if they did not want to take part in them.

Originally published as Street cleaner sacked for objecting to Acknowledgment of Country wins unfair dismissal against Darebin City Council