Hi there. It sounds like your husband is in a difficult position. Safe Work Australia and equivalent workplace health and safety regulators in each state and territory have guidelines on preventing and responding to workplace bullying. These guidelines recommend that internal investigations of workplace bullying are carried out by an unbiased, neutral party and in a transparent manner. If neutrality cannot be guaranteed internally, an external party should be engaged to carry out the investigation.

Importantly, however, these guidelines are only recommendations for employers and there is no legal requirement to follow them. If your husband is subject to a workplace investigation being carried out by a person who has a conflict of interest, your husband should raise the issue with the human resources manager or another officer at work who oversees workplace investigations. If this is not possible, your husband should consider speaking to a lawyer or union representative (if applicable) who would be able to advocate on his behalf.

Australian workplace laws protect employees from being victimised. Victimised means punishing or threatening to punish someone because they have complained to their employer or another person about discrimination or harassment, or made a formal complaint with an anti-discrimination body. If your husband believes he is being victimised at work, he should contact his union, industry regulator or industry ombudsman (if applicable). He may also want to lodge a formal victimisation complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW. The Board will investigate eligible complaints and, if appropriate, help the parties resolve the dispute. Information on how to make a complaint is available at www.antidiscrimination.justice.nsw.gov.au.