Fiona Knowles

Fiona Knowles practises mostly in work related areas, including in industrial, regulatory and representative proceedings. Fiona has acted for a wide variety of clients, such as government departments, associations, corporations and individuals. 

Having this broad experience means that Fiona can provide advice on matters from a unique range of perspectives. She has litigated in a range of forums and areas, including in:

• employment, industrial and discrimination
• regulatory and disciplinary work
• representative proceedings and class actions
• public and administrative law
• royal commissions and inquiries
• workplace injury and health and safety

Fiona is known for her work in anti-discrimination law and general protections matters and has acted in some landmark cases in these areas. Prior to coming to the Bar, Fiona worked at the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Department of Justice after being in private practice at Holding Redlich and a large commercial law firm.

Fiona is a member of the Industrial Bar Association Committee.

Fiona is on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne.  She has also co-taught the post graduate subject Equality and Discrimination Law at Work at the University.

Appearances include:

Fair Work Ombudsman v University of Melbourne [2024] FCA 330 Federal Court of Australia: penalties for general protections contraventions commmited by the University.

Conroy's Smallgoods v Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union [2023] FCAFC 59; 408 ALR 316 Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia appeal on the interaction between the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and State long service leave laws, intervening on behalf of the Wage Inspectorate Victoria led by Mark Irving KC.

Elliott-Carde v McDonald’s Australia Limited (Stay Application) [2023] FCA 1210 Federal Court of Australia: representative proceedings against McDonald's alleging failure to give employees rest breaks, appeared with Mark Irving KC, Georgina Costello KC,  Joel Fetter and Ben Slade.

BSL22 v BSM22 [2022] Federal Court of Australia: application for suppression and pseudonym orders in a proceeding under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth).

Fair Work Ombudsman v IE Enterprises Pty Ltd [2021]; Fair Work Ombudsman v IE Enterprises Pty Ltd [2020] Federal Court of Australia: case involving the first declarations of and penalties for "serious contraventions" under the Fair Work Act 2009 by the Federal Court of Australia for deliberate and systematic underpayments and employee record keeping breaches.

Australian Education Union v Yooralla Society of Victoria [2021] Federal Court of Australia: appeal on civil penalities, unled; Australian Education Union v Yooralla [2019]: appeal on liability from Federal Circuit Court decision led by Mark Irving

QC.

Briant v Martin [2020] Federal Court of Australia: union rules dispute, led by Mark Irving QC.

James v WorkPower Inc [2019] and [2018] Federal Court of Australia: application regarding alleged discriminatory wage assessment tool on the grounds of disability and Court approved settlement.

Australian Education Union v Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology [2018] Federal Court of Australia: application by the union for an injunction to stop a vote on an enterprise agreement on the grounds of alleged misrepresentations.

4 yearly review of modern awards - Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 [2018] Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission: work value claim, led by Mark Irving QC.

Fair Work Ombudsman v Yenida Pty Ltd & anor (No. 2) [2018] Federal Circuit Court of Australia: the FWO’s first race adverse action case - penalties of $211,104 ordered against the Scamander Beach Hotel in Tasmania and its director; Fair Work Ombudsman v Yenida Pty Ltd & anor [2017] - liability decision. 

Australian Services Union v Australian Taxation Office [2018] Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission: appeal in “hot-desking” dispute with the ATO.

Fair Work Ombudsman v Mhoney Pty Ltd & anor [2017] Federal Circuit Court of Australia: then record penalties of $660,020 ordered against the Sunshine Fruit Market and its director for various contraventions in respect of underpayments, record keeping and payslip breaches and a failure to comply with a notice to produce.

AGL Loy Yang Pty Ltd T/A AGL Loy Yang [2017] Fair Work Commission: application for termination of the Loy Yang Power Enterprise Agreement 2012.     

Fair Work Ombudsman v Mai Pty Ltd & Anor[2016] Federal Circuit Court of Australia: penalties of $408,348 ordered against a 7-Eleven franchisee and its director for underpaying 12 employees, receiving pay back from employees and various misleading and deceptive use of employee records contraventions.

Dziurbas v Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd (Human Rights) [2015] VCAT 1432: disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments matter in which the applicant was awarded $251,161.21 in compensation.

Memberships

Industrial Bar Association

Women Barristers Association