Qantas appeal rejected by High Court over outsourcing

The Australian High Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal from a judgment of a full court of the Federal Court of Australia that concerned whether a decision by Qantas Airways to outsource its ground handling operations at ten Australian airports contravened the Fair Work Act 2009. The outsourcing decision resulted in ground handling services then being performed by employees of Qantas and Qantas Ground Services (QGS), many of whom were members of the Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU), would instead be performed by staff of third-party suppliers. The Federal Court originally found that while there were valid and lawful