The Australian Broadcasting Corporation unlawfully sacked journalist Antoinette Lattouf after she shared a social media post criticising Israel鈥檚 war on Gaza, the Federal Court ruled.
The court found the public broadcaster removed Ms Lattouf from air in December 2023 in part because of her political opinions, specifically those on the Israeli military action in the Palestinian territory.
Justice Darryl Rangiah said that the ABC contravened the Fair Work Act and awarded Ms Lattouf A$70,000 (拢33,400) in damages. He is yet to decide on additional penalties.
The court dismissed the claim that Ms Lattouf, who is of Lebanese heritage, was fired due to her race or ethnic background.
Ms Lattouf had been contracted as a fill-in presenter on ABC Radio Sydney鈥檚 Mornings programme. Just three days in 鈥 on 19 December 鈥 she reposted an Instagram story from Human Rights Watch alleging Israel had used starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, a claim the Israeli government denied. She was removed from her role within hours.
Justice Rangiah found the ABC management reacted to an “orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have Lattouf taken off air” and acted hastily without identifying which policy she had violated or allowing her a chance to respond.
He said the broadcaster鈥檚 chief content officer at the time, Chris Oliver-Taylor, acted based on little more than a 鈥渟uspicion鈥 that she had broken rules and was motivated by desire to “mitigate the anticipated deluge of complaints and criticism”.
“Within the hour, a decision was made that Lattouf would be taken off air,” Justice Rangiah said, adding that the ABC senior staff were in a 鈥渟tate of panic鈥.
Criticising the ABC for failing to follow procedure, the judge pointed out that Ms Lattouf was neither warned nor provided an opportunity to defend herself.
While the ABC contended that her contract had been paid in full and she was merely taken off air to protect its reputation, the judge rejected this defence. He clarified that Ms Lattouf had not been given a formal directive to avoid commentary on Israel鈥檚 war on Gaza, only general advice to refrain from making controversial posts.
The journalist鈥檚 removal had sparked a national outcry and internal discontent at the ABC, raising concerns about political pressure and institutional support for culturally diverse staff. It had also led to a debate about editorial independence and freedom of expression within public broadcasting.
Israel launched its ongoing war on Gaza after over 1,100 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during a Hamas assault on southern Israel in October 2023.
Israeli forces have killed over 55,700 Palestinians so far, including 15,000 children, and left almost the entire population of nearly 2 million displaced from their homes and on the brink of starvation, according to the Hamas-run health ministry and UN agencies.
Speaking outside court, Ms Lattouf said she had been 鈥減unished for political opinion鈥. 鈥淒eliberately starving and killing children is a war crime,鈥 she said. 鈥淭oday, the court has found that punishing someone for sharing facts about these war crimes is also illegal.鈥
The ABC, which reportedly spent A$1m (拢733,998) defending the case, issued a public apology after the ruling. Its new managing director, Hugh Marks, said the matter 鈥渨as not handled in line with our values and expectations鈥.
鈥淲e also let down our staff and audiences and this failure has caused understandable concern among the public and inside the organisation,鈥 he said.
He acknowledged concerns over the broadcaster鈥檚 independence and announced that it had reviewed and replaced its internal guidelines for social media use.
鈥淎ny undue influence or pressure on ABC management or any of its employees must always be guarded against,鈥 Mr Marks said.
Commenting on the case, legal expert Chris Merritt called the judgment a 鈥渟lap in the face鈥 for the ABC leadership and criticised the organisation鈥檚 internal processes as 鈥渁mateurish鈥.
Once a dismissal claim was raised under Australia鈥檚 Fair Work Act, he told Sky News, the onus was on the employer to prove it was lawful, something the ABC failed to do convincingly.
The matter escalated to the Federal Court after a mediation attempt between Ms Lattouf and the ABC failed at the Fair Work Commission earlier this year.