Qantas in the High Court: is it still OK to outsource?

On 13 September 2023, the High Court of Australia unanimously dismissed an appeal by Qantas Airways Limited seeking to challenge a Federal Court ruling that the Airline had breached the General Protections provisions in Part 3-1 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) when it decided to outsource service and baggage handling at 10 Australian airports.

The outcome of this case is of interest as it highlights that with the exercise of an appropriate level of care, it is possible to implement an outsourcing program lawfully without running afoul of the General Protections provisions of the FW Act, however it is important to bear in mind that the attractions of doing so may be compromised by various other provisions of that Act.

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