Federal Court Rejects Serco Bid to Deny Redundancy Pay to 146 WA Immigration Detention Staff

The Federal Court has rejected Serco's bid to avoid paying redundancy to 146 staff from Perth and Yongah Hill immigration detention centres, in a judgment delivered on 3 November 2026. Justice Vandongen dismissed Serco's case against the United Workers Union and found the workers' jobs ended because of redundancy.

What did the Federal Court decide?

The court refused every declaration Serco sought and dismissed its amended application. Justice Vandongen found that redundancy occurred under clause 25.1 of the Serco Immigration Services Enterprise Agreement 2023 on the day Serco left the centres. He then found the workers' employment was terminated by reason of redundancy under clause 25.5(b).

The case was heard in the court's Western Australia registry on 5 and 6 May 2026. Serco was the applicant and the United Workers Union was the respondent. The judge said he would hear the parties on any costs issues.

Why did Serco say it did not owe redundancy pay?

Serco had run onshore immigration detention centres for the Department of Home Affairs since 2009. In early December 2024, it was announced that a new provider would take over. Some of the new provider's services were to be outsourced to a second company.

Evidence before the court was that, at the handover, 146 of its WA staff had not asked to be redeployed. They had not replied to any Serco messages since 18 February 2025, given notice of resignation or said they wanted to stay. Serco argued that these workers had accepted jobs with the new operators and so had ended their own employment. On that basis, Serco sought declarations that it was not required to pay them any redundancy pay.

The judgment says it is alleged that the 146 workers later started work with the incoming provider or its subcontractor.

Why did the court reject Serco's argument?

The judge said he was not persuaded the workers ended their employment before redundancy occurred on the handover date. One piece of evidence pointed the other way. Evidence from Mr Taylor, cited in the judgment, was that all of the workers left their Serco uniforms in bins provided as they finished their shift on 13 March 2025. The judge said this strongly suggested they did complete their last shift with Serco.

Serco had also asked for a declaration that it did not owe any pay in lieu of notice. That point fell away because the union accepted Serco had given the required notice.

Source: Federal Court of Australia judgment, [2026] FCA 1648.

Item	Detail from the judgment
Case	Serco Australia Pty Ltd v United Workers Union [2026] FCA 1648
Judge and date	Vandongen J, 3 November 2026
WA centres	Perth Immigration Detention Centre and Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre
Workers	146, mainly Detention Service Officers, plus catering assistants and chefs
Handover	8pm, 13 March 2025
Result	Serco's application dismissed

What it means for WA workers when a contract changes hands

The ruling matters to anyone whose job depends on a government services contract. In this case, the court looked at what the enterprise agreement said about redundancy, not just whether staff moved to the new contractor.

The judgment applies to this enterprise agreement and these facts. Workers in a similar position should check their own agreement or award and get advice from their union or the Fair Work Ombudsman. Our guide to redundancy pay in WA explains the basics.

What it means for Perth job seekers

Direct advertising for security work in WA is thin right now. On 6 November, Jobs In Perth's feed listed just 1 live direct-from-employer security ad in WA: a casual hospital mental health security officer role in Perth.

Catering and kitchen roles are easier to find. Our feed showed:

• 12 live chef and cook ads across WA. Crown Perth posted 4, the Department of Education 3 and South Metropolitan Health Service 2.
• 31 live hospitality and catering ads in Perth, 25 of them from Crown Perth.

Hospitals and schools are hiring cooks and food service staff, which may suit catering workers who lose a contract role.

How we reported this

• Every detail of the case comes from the Federal Court judgment Serco Australia Pty Ltd v United Workers Union [2026] FCA 1648, delivered on 3 November 2026 (cover sheet, orders and reasons at paragraphs 1 to 6, 63, 64, 93 and 163 to 167).
• The judgment does not state a dollar amount of redundancy pay, and we have not estimated one.
• Jobs In Perth feed figures were observed on 6 November 2026 and count direct-from-employer ads only. These are advertised vacancies, not people employed.
• Cover image: AI-generated illustration, not a photo of the event.

Sources

• Federal Court of Australia: Serco Australia Pty Ltd v United Workers Union [2026] FCA 1648 (3 November 2026)