Current practice

Industry experience

Anthony has acted across industries for major clients. Major projects on which he has advised include:

• the Comalco dispute which was sparked by the introduction of individual employment contracts at Comalco’s Bauxite mining operations at Weipa in North Queensland in 1995
• Hunter Valley No. 1 Coal Mine dispute in 1997 and 1998 where Anthony acted for Coal & Allied Operations Pty Ltd, part of the Rio Tinto group
• 1998 waterfront dispute where Anthony acted for Melbourne Port Corporation
• implementation of merit based systems in large selection for retrenchment exercises in the mining and other industries and appearing as advocate on ensuing unfair dismissal cases (1998–2001)
• BHP Coal Queensland enterprise bargaining dispute involving extensive industrial action in 2001
• fundamental restructuring and modernisation of the National Coal Industry award (1998–2001). He has also advised on significant changes to superannuation and long service leave schemes in the coal mining industry
• the Reasonable Hours Test Case, the most significant review of working hours in Australia for many decades, in which Anthony acted for major employer bodies
• formulating and implementing fundamental workplace change at Pacific National, the nations largest rail freight company
• acting in numerous significant matters in the Federal Court of Australia concerning many provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 both prior to and after the WorkChoices reforms. These matters included detailed proceedings concerning building industry reform, damages for unlawful industrial action and the application of anti-boycott provisions of the Trade Practice Act.

Professional background