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Department ‘very fair’ to employee who lost their Blue Card

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Perkins v State of Queensland (Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts) (No. 2) [2025] QIRC 36.

On 7 February 2025, Deputy President Merrell dismissed a former employee’s application for reinstatement. The employee was dismissed 17 months after her Blue Card was cancelled. Deputy President Merrell found the Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts (Department) was ‘very fair’ to the employee between the cancellation of her Blue Card and her dismissal.

Factual background

The employee was employed by the Department as a Project Support Officer. It was not in dispute that she was required to hold a Blue Card for this role, although she disputed the volume of her duties which required her to work with children.

On 9 October 2020, the Department was informed the employee’s Blue Card had been cancelled. It found alternative suitable duties for her until 2 March 2021 when no more suitable duties were available.

On 15 March 2021, the employee informed the Department that she had applied to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) for a review of the decision to cancel her Blue Card. On 25 March 2021, the Department placed her on unpaid leave pending QCAT’s decision.

Between 15 March 2021 and 5 September 2022, there was correspondence between the employee and various officers of the Department about the status of her QCAT application.

On 8 August 2022, the Deputy Director-General wrote to the employee stating that he was unable to approve her continued leave if her Blue Card remained cancelled or if the QCAT proceeding was still pending. The employee provided a heavily redacted QCAT Directions Order. On 5 September 2022, the employee’s employment was terminated.

Decision

Deputy President Merrell dismissed the application because despite the alleged delays with QCAT, the dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable. In particular, His Honour found the employee did not meaningfully comply with multiple directions from the Department to provide progress updates on the QCAT matter.

In dismissing the complaint, Deputy President Merrell found:

  1. Under the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000, it is the personal responsibility of employees to apply for and hold a Blue Card.
  2. The employee did not proactively provide updates to her employer, providing only 1 redacted QCAT document twice.
  3. The employee’s concern that providing updates to other staff would breach her privacy was unfounded. The Department was not concerned with why her Blue Card was cancelled. Her continued employment with the Department rested solely on the QCAT proceeding.
  4. The Department was ‘very fair’ to the employee by granting her unpaid leave to challenge the cancellation in QCAT. This proceeding was ‘at the centre of her continued employment’.
  5. The employee was dismissed because of her incapacity to work due to not having a Blue Card, which she was warned of and had an opportunity to respond to.
  6. The employee’s dismissal was not disproportionate to her incapacity because she was unable to demonstrate when the QCAT decision was to be handed down.

This decision demonstrates the importance of employees holding and maintaining their Blue Card and the obligation on employees to keep their employer up-to-date about matters relating to their ability to work, and to provide a clear and meaningful  response to enquiries made by their employer.