Matthew Peterson

Matthew is an experienced employment lawyer. He has advised local government, other government organisations, large corporate clients and private companies across the full range of workplace relations and safety law matters.

Matthew’s areas of expertise include employment contracts and breaches; terminations; restraints of trade; restructures and redundancies; corporate underpayments; unfair dismissal and adverse action claims; unlawful discrimination claims; enterprise bargaining; workplace investigations and training and general work health and safety compliance.

In litigious matters, Matthew has acted for clients in various Courts and Tribunals including the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, Fair Work Commission, Australian Human Rights Commission, Federal Circuit Court of Australia, NSW Local Court and the Supreme Court of NSW.

Experience

• Acting for the Australian subsidiary of one of the world's leading financial services firms in relation to urgent Supreme Court proceedings including successfully obtaining injunctive relief enforcing non-competition and non-solicitation restraints against a senior ex-employee.
• Providing strategic and legal advice to a Sydney-based architect firm in relation to the theft of a significant volume of confidential information by an IT manager, including undertaking forensic analysis and the irretrievable deletion of materials from the employee’s personal devices.
• Acting for a large manufacturer of glass bottles and containers in successfully defending a complex general protections claim in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia seeking damages in excess of $600,000.
• Advising a government-owned corporation in relation to a dispute notified by the RTBU (Victorian Branch) under the relevant enterprise agreement concerning the accrual of paid leave entitlements.
• Advising the liquidators for a former labour hire contractor operating in the black coal industry in relation to casual employee entitlements arising out of the Full Court decisions in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131; WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84 and the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Cth).
• Advising a large local council located in inner western region of Sydney in relation to an Application for Internal Review and Council’s obligations arising under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).
• Advising the operator of a number of skin cancer clinics across Australia in relation to its independent contractor arrangements and strategies to minimise its legal risks.
• Conducting numerous investigations for one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit disability service providers in relation to various allegations concerning the abuse and neglect towards persons with a disability and associated matters.
• Acting as strategic advisors to a large RSL club in Western Sydney in relation to a strategic restructure project impacting around 100 employees and resulting in approximately 25 redundancies.
• Advising a leading provider of integrated services in Australia and New Zealand in relation to executive termination payments persons holding 'managerial or executive office' under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
• Advising a leading aged care provider in relation to significant restructure project and an associated application for the Commission to deal with a dispute lodged by the ANMF New South Wales Branch.