Degenhardt v Ambulance Victoria (No.3)

The applicant, a former employee of Ambulance Victoria, brought proceedings seeking recovery of unpaid entitlements. The dispute concerned the application of multiple industrial awards and contractual terms over the course of the applicant's employment, particularly in relation to "on-call" duties performed by the applicant as a casual employee. The matter came before Wilson J in the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the applicant was entitled to a casual loading and penalty rates for the "on-call" periods. This required the Court to construe the relevant industrial awards and the terms of the applicant's contract of employment to determine the applicant's entitlements. The Court also considered the assessment of the applicant's evidence, particularly in light of expert testimony presented.

Wilson J applied established principles of award and contract construction to determine the applicant's entitlements. The Court found that the applicant was not entitled to a casual loading for the entirety of his employment, nor was he entitled to penalty rates for all "on-call" periods. In assessing the applicant's evidence, the Court considered the principles outlined in *Dasreef Pty Ltd v Hawchar* regarding expert evidence, noting that the applicant's claim for almost $800,000 in unpaid entitlements was not sufficiently substantiated by evidence of profits. Consequently, the Court awarded the applicant $154,841.