Rawson v Secretary, New South Wales Department of Education [2024] NSWIRComm 1060

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Rawson v Secretary, New South Wales Department of Education [2024] NSWIRComm 1060 Hearing dates: 11 September 2024 Date of orders: 11 September 2024 Decision date: 17 September 2024 Jurisdiction: Industrial Relations Commission Before: Commissioner Webster Decision: 1. Pursuant to s 164A(1)(a) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, each of the following is prohibited: a. the disclosure, sharing or publication of any information or material (including but not limited to a name, address, health information or image) that identifies, or may lead to the identification of the [School], a current or former student of the [School] or another school; b. the doing of any other thing that identifies, or may lead to the identification of, the [School], a current or former student of the [School] or another school. 2. Pursuant to s 164A(1)(c) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, access to the Commission file in the matter of Mai Rawson v Secretary New South Wales Department of Education (file no. 2024/00151572) is restricted such that the parties will be consulted by the Industrial Relations Registrar to determine whether there is any objection before any person (other than the parties and NSW Education Standards Authority and the Office of the Children's Guardian) may be granted access. 3. These orders remain in force for 30 years unless varied or revoked sooner. Catchwords: EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL LAW – Industrial Relations Commission – Procedure and powers – unfair dismissal application in respect of a teacher – student witnesses – witnesses are now adults – whether there it is necessary in the interests of justice to make non-disclosure orders in respect of students – public interest in protecting children to encourage reporting of misconduct and underperformance of teachers – imbalance of power between teachers and children – size and specialised nature of the school necessitates School name being subject to s 164A order to protect the identity of the witnesses - Non-disclosure orders Legislation Cited: Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), s 164A Cases Cited: A (a pseudonym) v Commissioner of Police [2019] NSWIRComm 1091 Buttling v NSW Department of Education and Communities (No 2) [2012] NSWIRComm 72 Chan v Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (No 2) [2023] FCA 1538 Day v Smidmore and others (No 2) [2005] NSWIRComm 406; 149 IR 80 Hogan v Australian Crime Commission [2010] HCA 21; 240 CLR 651 John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd v Police Tribunal (NSW) (1986) 5 NSWLR 465 John Fairfax Group Pty Ltd v Local Court of New South Wales (1991) 26 NSWLR 131 John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v District Court of New South Wales [2004] NSWCA 324; 61 NSWLR 344 Russell v Russell (1976) 134 CLR 495 Secretary of the Department of Education v X [2023] NSWIRComm 1061 Writer v Commissioner of Police (No 2) [2021] NSWIRComm 1023 X v Department of Justice and Attorney-General [2011] NSWIRComm 1010 Category: Consequential orders Parties: Mai Rawson (applicant/respondent in the motion) Secretary, New South Wales Department of Education (respondent/applicant in the motion) Representation: Counsel: Mahendra D Byrnes B