Vic: Staff launch class action against Ballarat University

AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-2006
Vic: Staff launch class action against Ballarat University

MELBOURNE, Feb 15 AAP - A group of 700 University of Ballarat staff will today lodge
a $7 million damages claim against their employer, stating they were misled about Australian
Workplace Agreements (AWA).

Law firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman will today lodge the claim in the Federal Court,
seeking an injunction to stop the university, based at Ballarat, west of Melbourne, from
continuing to enter into AWAs.

In addition, staff are seeking damages of up to $7 million.

Lawyer Josh Bornstein said the university had misled employees by saying present key
employment conditions would be safeguarded, in an attempt to get them to sign AWAs.

Mr Bornstein said providing misleading information about AWAs was a breach of the Workplace
Relations Act.

"It is clear that the AWAs being offered by the University of Ballarat will lead to
a diminution of staff's present conditions, in particular in relation to job security
issues," Mr Bornstein said.

"These staff are simply seeking justice under the present Workplace Relations Act and
believe that the university have (sic) knowingly hid relevant information from them about
their future employment conditions," he said.

National Tertiary Education Union state secretary Matthew McGowan said the union supported
the decision by the university's 700 staff to take legal action.

"The union is totally supporting the staff in pursuing this class action," Mr McGowan said.

"If the management want to offer AWAs then the least they can do is be honest about
it and make it very clear that the AWAs they are offering will undermine the conditions
people currently enjoy under the enterprise agreement," he said.

Comment is being sought from the University of Ballarat.

AAP sam/hn

KEYWORD: UNIVERSITY

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