Big win for sacked Qantas workers as Federal Court judge slams compensation payout delays

By WILLIAM TOM FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 15:29, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 15:50, 6 August 2026 Unlawfully sacked Qantas workers will finally share in a $40million payout, with a judge 'drawing a line in the sand' on persistent delays while criticising the compensation administrator for a lack of transparency. The Australian airline outsourced 1820 baggage-handling, cleaning and ground staff roles during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a move the Federal Court ruled was designed to curb union bargaining power in wage negotiations. Justice Michael Lee in December ordered the company to pay the largest employer fine in the nation's industrial history due to the 'sheer scale' of contraventions. Of the $9 million penalty, $50million has already been paid to the Transport Workers' Union for highlighting and prosecuting the illegal conduct. Justice Lee on Thursday ordered that the roughly $38million remaining, which had been sitting in the court's coffers as the compensation scheme was being nutted out, be paid to impacted workers imminently. 'I should draw a line in the sand from today,' he said as he ordered the payment be 'decoupled' from the wider compensation scheme. 'It is simply unfair to make those who have done all they reasonably can do to engage with the administrator to wait any longer.' Baggage handlers are among the unlawfully sacked Qantas workers who will finally share in a $40million payout The airline outsourced 1820 baggage-handling, cleaning and ground staff roles during the Covid pandemic Workers will receive a day's notice of their payments and the rate will be based on their tenure at the company. Lawyers representing the scheme's administrator on Thursday revealed two significant delay-causing matters had crystallised in mid-June. Adam Hochroth SC indicated there had been an issue with about 110 independent medical expert reports obtained for workers that allowed administration barristers to assess their non-economic loss. 'One of the independent medical examiners produced reports which the administrator didn't consider to reach the standard that was required to determine compensation,' he said. The independent experts disputed that assertion, but Justice Lee said he had not seen the form to determine whether the issue involved a barrister having impossibly high standards. 'The problem in this case is ... it is being done in a way which lacks transparency,' he said. 'One can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and I have no idea whether here the perfect has been the enemy of the good.' Mr Hochroth said further delays involved Services Australia, where a person compensated after receiving treatment under Medicare must reimburse the scheme with their payout - something that affected some workers. Qantas saved about $125million in the year after the outsourcing The administrator said it would make the repayment, but couldn't pay affected workers until this bulk payment agreement was done. Impacted Qantas worker Bryan Perrett told the court the outstanding fine money should be split equally among affected workers. 'The quickest, easiest, and fairest way to distribute the funds would be a complete even split,' the 43-year-old said. Transport Workers Union delegate Don Dixon said the decision handed down was just and fair. 'When you worked there for 20-odd years and you're in your 60s, there's not a lot of future out there for you,' he told AAP. 'This is a very good result for the people that have had careers there.' Justice Lee criticised the administrator, which he said was specifically designed by the court to be efficient. 'The administrator has regarded it as either inappropriate or unnecessary to seek early intervention of the court to resolve problems to allow the settlement scheme to be administered faster,' he said. He also took a swipe at the union and class-action lawyers from Maurice Blackburn for what appeared to be 'a degree of passivity'. Qantas saved about $125million in the year after the outsourcing and stood to save that amount annually, the court was told in 2021.