New South Wales Consolidated Acts

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT 1996 - SECT 210

210 Freedom from victimisation

(1) An employer or industrial organisation must not victimise an employee or prospective employee because the person--

(a) is or was a member or an official of an industrial organisation of employees or otherwise an elected representative of employees, or

(b) does not belong to an industrial organisation of employees, or holds a certificate of conscientious objection to becoming a member of such an industrial organisation, or

(c) refuses to engage in industrial action, or

(d) exercises functions conferred under this Act, or

(e) claims a benefit to which the person is entitled under the industrial relations legislation or an industrial instrument, or

(f) informs any person of an alleged breach by an employer of the industrial relations legislation or of an industrial instrument, or

(g) participates, or proposes to participate, in proceedings relating to an industrial matter, or

(h) engages in, or proposes to engage in, any public or political activity (unless it interferes with the performance of the employee's duties), or

(i) informs any person of an alleged breach of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 by an employer, or

(ia) informs any person or body of, or gives evidence in relation to, a notifiable occurrence within the meaning of the Rail Safety National Law (NSW) , or

(ib) reports a matter relating to the safety or reliability of railway, bus or ferry operations to the Chief Investigator (within the meaning of the Transport Administration Act 1988 ) or a person employed in the Transport Service, or

(ic) informs any person or body of, or gives evidence in relation to, a breach or alleged breach of the Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008 or the regulations under that Act (or a provision of a law of another State or Territory that corresponds to that Act or those regulations), or

(j) makes a complaint about a workplace matter that the person considers is not safe or a risk to health, or exercises functions under Part 5 (Consultation, representation and participation) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 , or

(k) assists the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal or Scheme Administrator in the exercise of its functions under the Electricity Supply Act 1995 .

(2) In any proceedings under section 213 to enforce the provisions of this section, it is presumed that an employee or prospective employee who suffers any detriment as a result of action by the employer or industrial organisation was victimised because of a matter referred to in subsection (1) that is alleged by the applicant to be the cause of the detrimental action. That presumption is rebutted if the employer or industrial organisation satisfies the Commission that the alleged matter was not a substantial and operative cause of the detrimental action.