‘Rude and aggressive’ Centrelink worker awarded $33k after he was forced to quit during a period of mental distress
Centrelink has been ordered to pay $33,000 to a former staff member who the Fair Work Commission found was effectively forced to resign during a period of significant mental distress, after the tribunal ruled the agency should have allowed him space to recover.
Luke Wilson began working at Services Australia’s Toowoomba office in March 2023 as a customer service officer, before moving into an acting senior project officer role in the Maryborough office in May 2024.
In February 2025, his doctor issued a medical certificate stating he had no capacity to work due to the toll his job had taken on his mental health.
According to Mr Wilson’s evidence before the Commission, he believed the agency had been negligent in dealing with significant mould issues at the Maryborough office, which he said contributed to a respiratory illness and left him working in isolation from home.
He also alleged that in the second half of 2024, he experienced mistreatment and bullying after raising concerns with management about unresolved workplace issues.
The Commission heard that while a matter involving a ‘rude’ subordinate was resolved in December 2024, Services Australia provided evidence that Mr Wilson’s communication with the senior staff member managing the case had become excessive and disruptive.
That staff received 36 phone calls and 24 text messages from him over five weeks, many lasting up to an hour and occurring multiple times a day.
According to the judgment, the staff member expressed concern about Mr Wilson’s emotional state, describing him as crying during conversations and reporting feelings of being bullied. She suggested he take time off for his mental health.
A former Centrelink employee hasbeen awarded thousands in compensation after he said he was forced to resign from the agency earlier this year
Mr Wilson returned to the Maryborough office on January 13, 2025, but left work distressed a month later.
His GP diagnosed him with adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressive symptoms caused by workplace stress and declared him unfit for work for at least a month from February 11.
The treatment plan included counselling and antidepressants.
A meeting was held two days later with Mr Wilson and his support person, during which he requested a temporary transfer to the Hervey Bay service centre.
The Commission heard this was refused due to a lack of vacancies.
Mr Wilson told the Commission that because he was no longer being paid by Services Australia, he could not afford professional care. Case notes recorded him saying words to the effect of: ‘If I kill myself, it is on you guys.
Mr Wilson also gave evidence that he had a strong work ethic recognised by senior leaders and had a passion for public service.
He claimed the agency had acted improperly by contacting his GP to inquire about his capacity to resign, writing: ‘You’re all supposed to be here to rehabilitate not exasperate a person’s condition. Shame on you all’.
Luke Wilson claimed his mental health took a battering because of the job
The Commission noted that there had been no formal acceptance of Mr Wilson’s resignation and that he asserted he had been forced into resigning because of the agency’s conduct and did not feel safe returning to work.
He has since taken a lower-paid job as a full-time optical assistant, compared with his previous $78,800 Services Australia salary.
Deputy President Tony Slevin found Mr Wilson was ‘in a state of emotional distress’, and that the agency’s conduct in the five weeks leading up to his resignation, during which he had no income, left him with no real choice but to resign.
He found Services Australia had ‘unwittingly exacerbated’ Mr Wilson’s condition by continuing to engage with him while he was medically unfit for work.
‘Services Australia contends that Mr Wilson had other options. I find that his state of mind and financial situation were such that he had no option but to resign both for the sake of his health and to enable him to earn an income,’ Deputy President Slevin said. ‘He was in a very dark place.’
The Commission also accepted that while Mr Wilson’s behaviour at times was inappropriate, it occurred in the context of him being mentally unwell.
‘His obsession with what he perceived to be wrongdoing by a number of officers of Services Australia during 2024, his dogged pursuit of complaints about that conduct, and his insistence that his complaints be dealt with immediately and in a manner that he deemed apt was unreasonable,’ Slevin said.
‘His behaviour towards those he dealt with, in the lengthy conversations he had and the numerous emails he sent, was often rude, aggressive and unacceptable. He was however ill. His obsession and bad conduct were a factor of that illness.’
Deputy President Slevin found Mr Wilson had been unfairly dismissed and ordered Services Australia to pay him $33,348 plus superannuation.
