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Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday
8.00am - 5.30pm

Phone
+61 2 92231522

Fax
+61 2 92237646

Email
clerk@statechambers.net

Address
Level 36,
52 Marin Place,
Sydney NSW 200

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Richard C Kenzie AM KC

 

Contact Details

Phone: +61 2 9223 1522
Email: richard.kenzie@statechambers.net

Date Appointed King's Counsel

1984

Date of Admission to the Bar

1973

Date of Admission as a Solicitor

1969

Qualifications

  • LLM (Harvard)
  • LLB (Hons) Melbourne
  • LLM (Melbourne)
  • Fulbright Scholar 1971

Appointments

  • Commonwealth Defence Force Advocate 1995-2014
  • Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2011

 

Practice Overview

Richard is a leading Senior Counsel specialising in employment and constitutional law.

He has been in practice at the NSW Bar since 1973 having obtained Masters Degrees from Harvard law School and Melbourne University Law School.

He has been a Queens Counsel since 1984.

His practice covers all areas of Public and Administrative Employment law before Superior Courts throughout Australia.

Over a period in excess of 30 years he has appeared as Senior Counsel before the High Court in a large array of cases, including highly significant constitutional and administrative cases – as well as other leading cases on employment, human rights and Commonwealth election law.

Recent cases in the High Court have included the highly significant adverse action decision in Bendigo Institute v Barclay (No 1) (2012) 248 CLR 500, Commonwealth Bank v Barker (2014) 253 CLR 169 and the Chapter III Case of Australian Education Union v General Manager of Fair Work Australia (2012) 246 CLR 117.

He has a long and extensive history of appearing before the Federal Court of Australia in cases arising under the Fair Work Act and earlier Federal Industrial Legislation.

Richard has also appeared as Senior Counsel for the NSW Government in many major wage cases involving Crown employment.

For nearly twenty years, between 1995 and 2014 he was the Commonwealth Defence Force Advocate appointed under the Defence Act (Cth) to advise the Chief of the Defence Force and to appear on behalf of the ADF before the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal in relation to matters concerning the remuneration of military personnel.

In 2011, Richard was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of distinguished service to the law, particularly in the area of military remuneration.

Specific Practice Areas

Constitutional Cases - High Court

  1. Employment & Industrial Cases
    1. R v Ludeke; ex parte Queensland Electricity Commission (1985) 159 CLR 178
    2. R v Ludeke; ex parte ABCELF (1985) 159 CLR 636;
    3. Re Manufacturing Grocers Employees’ Federation; ex parte Australian Chamber of Manufacturers (1986) 160 CLR 341
    4. O’Toole v Charles David Pty Ltd (1991) 171 CLR 232
    5. Re Australian Meat Industry Employees’ Union; ex parte Aberdeen Beef Company Pty Ltd (1993) 176 CLR 154
    6. Australian Education Union v Victoria (1995) 184 CLR 188
    7. Re McJannett; ex parte Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations (Qld) (1995) 184 CLR 620
    8. Attorney General v Riordan (1997) 192 CLR 1
    9. Pacific Coal Pty Ltd; ex parte CFMEU (2000) 203 CLR 346
    10. PP Consultants Pty Ltd v Finance Sector Union (2000) 201 CLR 648
    11. Attorney General (Qld) v AIRC (2002) 213 CLR 485
    12. Australian Education Union v General Manager of Fair Work Australia & Ors (2012) 246 CLR 117.
  2. Human Rights Cases
    1. Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273
    2. Koroitamana v The Commonwealth (2006) 227 CLR 31
  3. Commonwealth Electoral Cases
    1. Re Wood (1988) 167 CLR 133
    2. Nile v Wood (1988) 167 CLR 145

Other Significant High Court Cases

  1. Re Australian Transport Officers Federation; ex parte AIRC (1990) 171 CLR 216
  2. Batterham v QSR Ltd (2006) 225 CLR 237
  3. Jarrett v Commissioner of Police (NSW) (2005) 224 CLR 44
  4. Bendigo Institute v Barclay (2012) 248 CLR 500
  5. Commonwealth Bank v Barker (2014) 253 CLR 169

Selected Recent Appellate Cases of Significance under the Fair Work Act (Cth)

  1. United Firefighters Union of Australia v Country Fire Authority [2015] FCAFC 1
  2. Port Kembla Coal Terminal v CFMEU [2016] FCAFC 99

Selected NSW Employment Cases

  1. Re Crown Employees (Police Officers – 2009) Award (2012) 220 IR 1
  2. Re Crown Employees (Teachers) Salaries Award (2004) 133 IR 254
  3. Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (No 1) (2002) 115 IR 183
  4. Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (No 2) (2002) 118 IR 336
  5. Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (No 3) (2002) 121 IR 28
  6. Re Public Hospital Nurses (State) Award (2003) 131 IR 17