A self-represented worker defeated the Commonwealth's legal team — here's how
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that employers cannot dodge unfair dismissal claims by engineering terminations that appear to happen automatically.
In a decision handed down on 13 February 2026, Commissioner Spencer dismissed a jurisdictional objection raised by the Commonwealth of Australia in an unfair dismissal application brought by Aidan Nagle, a former political staffer for One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts.
Mr Nagle had worked in Senator Roberts' office since July 2019, first as an electorate officer and later as a personal employee. His role existed because of a written determination by the Prime Minister authorising Senator Roberts to hire personal staff under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984.
After the 2025 federal election, a new determination was issued on behalf of the Prime Minister that revoked Senator Roberts' authority to employ personal staff. Under the MOPS Act, that revocation automatically terminated the employment of any personal staff attached to it. Mr Nagle's employment ended on 17 August 2025.
The Commonwealth, represented by the Department of Finance, argued the Commission had no jurisdiction to hear the case. The termination happened by operation of law, the Commonwealth said, not because anyone made a decision to fire Mr Nagle. The legislation did its work automatically. No manager signed a termination letter. No meeting was called.
Mr Nagle, who represented himself, did not dispute the automatic nature of his termination. But he argued the Commission should look at who set the whole thing in motion. The Commonwealth knew that revoking the determination would end his employment. Senator Roberts still wanted him on staff. One Nation had doubled its number of Senators at the election, yet the party's per-Senator staff allocation went down. The Commonwealth, Mr Nagle submitted, created the conditions that made his termination unavoidable.
Commissioner Spencer sided with Mr Nagle. Borrowing an analogy from the Federal Court's earlier decision in Quirk v Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, the Commissioner found that the Fair Work Act does not require the employer to pull the trigger — only to load the gun. The Commonwealth loaded the gun by revoking the determination. The statute pulled the trigger. That was enough to establish a dismissal at the employer's initiative.
The principle at the heart of the ruling may carry weight beyond parliamentary staffing. The case law the Commissioner relied on — including Quirk and the earlier Full Bench authorities — draws a clear line: where an employer takes deliberate steps that result in the end of someone's employment, the Commission will look at who set the process in motion.
The decision deals only with whether the Commission has jurisdiction. The substantive question of whether Mr Nagle's dismissal was actually unfair has not yet been heard. Commissioner Spencer noted the finding should not be taken as a predetermination of that case.
It is worth noting that Mr Nagle was out of work for just one day. He commenced a new contract with Senator Roberts on 19 August 2025 and is now employed on an ongoing basis by Senator Pauline Hanson.
