Tennis Australia finds itself in hot water over quite a concerning issue. Multiple officials have sued the organization, and the case has escalated to the Federal Court. Turns out that the officials are suing it for alleged breaches of workplace rights under the Fair Work Act.
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It all started during the latter part of 2025, when Tennis Australia terminated the officiating registrations of four board members. This includes chair Karen Mak, umpires Simon Cannavan and Catherine Caswell, and court supervisor Jim Goode. The termination stripped them from officiating at the Australian Open or any other event sanctioned by Tennis Australia. But the officials have now decided to retaliate against the organization.
“The proceedings arise from actions we took in those elected roles,” Mak told The First Serve. “Including raising concerns about health and safety and workplace practices, proposing improvements to the officiating system, and communicating with the officials we represented.”
“We say that what followed was an escalating attempt by Tennis Australia to control what we could say to our members and how our elected organisation operated, ultimately culminating in the termination of our officiating employment. We just want officials to be able to raise workplace issues without fear of retaliation.”
It is alleged that the memberships of the four members were cancelled because they didn’t obey the rules.
“The Fair Work Act protects employees from being punished for speaking up – yet Tennis Australia has done exactly that,” Mak told The Sydney Morning Herald in October of 2025. “We were not terminated for misconduct but because we exercised our lawful right to represent our colleagues. That is retaliation, plain and simple. Officials shouldn’t lose their jobs just for speaking up for fairness.”
Earlier this year, Tennis Australia’s jurisdictional objections were rejected by the Fair Work Commission. They found that the cancellation of the officials’ memberships amounted to dismissal. The case is now set to further escalate to the Federal Court, and it remains to be seen what happens in the lawsuit.
This isn’t the first time that Tennis Australia has found itself at the center of a controversy. It was just last year that they were a part of the lawsuit that was filed by the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) over issues that stunned the tennis community.
Tennis Australia was sued by the PTPA over major anti-trust issues
The PTPA launched the lawsuit against the four Grand Slam events, the ATP, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation last year. These bodies were accused of collaborating to reduce prize money, imposing a restrictive ranking system, and repressing player promotional opportunities.
But Tennis Australia was the first tennis body that reached a settlement with the PTPA and was dropped from the lawsuit. The court documents said that the organization agreed to cooperate with the PTPA against the other Grand Slam tournaments, including providing confidential financial information.
“Tennis Australia will begin providing valuable discovery that [the plaintiffs] may or may not have been ultimately able to obtain from Tennis Australia,” the PTPA’s lawyers had claimed in a court filing. “In exchange for a release of liability for monetary damages, Tennis Australia agrees to provide damages class plaintiffs with materials, facts, and other information known to Tennis Australia relevant to plaintiffs’ claims against the Tour defendants and Grand Slam defendants.”
“Including information regarding: financial books and records; tournament prize money; player name, image and likeness (“NIL”) rights and uses; player sponsorship and endorsement opportunities; tour scheduling requirements; player ranking points; player participation in non-Tour events; player claim enforcement mechanisms; and communications or agreements.”
As a result, the PTPA and Tennis Australia reached a settlement long before the Australian Open began. Their case was settled on December 23, 2025, and both parties announced that they had reached a settlement agreement in principle.