An Offshore 'Contractor' Who Never Visited Australia Can Still Bring an Australian Unfair Dismissal Claim

The Fair Work Commission has dismissed a jurisdictional objection from an Australian online bicycle retailer, allowing an unfair dismissal application from a Philippines-based accountant to proceed. She had never visited Australia and held no Australian visa, but the Commission treated her as an Australian-based employee.

The relationship began in 2017 through a freelance marketplace, moved to a direct full-time bookkeeping role in 2019, and was later papered as contractor agreements in December 2024 and again in 2025, when she was promoted to senior accountant. Throughout, she continued to invoice for the same hours each week.

The deputy president looked past the contractor wording to how the arrangement actually operated. The business directed when she worked and what she focused on, put her through annual performance reviews and required approval for leave, while her invoices simply mirrored her timesheets rather than reflecting independent business activity.

On where the arrangement was made, the 2025 agreement was offered and accepted electronically from Sydney, and it was governed by New South Wales law. Taken together with the employment-like features, that was enough for the Commission to treat her as an Australian-based employee. This was a decision on jurisdiction only — whether the dismissal was unfair has not been decided.

A contractor agreement describes an arrangement; it doesn't determine it. Where an offshore worker is managed, scheduled, reviewed and paid like a staff member, the label may carry little weight when it is tested.

Distance isn't protection. A worker based overseas, who has never set foot in the employer's country, may still fall under that country's workplace laws if the agreement is made there or governed by its law.

Long-running arrangements drift. A freelancer engaged for flexible work can gradually become a full-time team member while the paperwork stays the same, and the gap between the two is where the exposure builds up.