Antoinette Lattouf Wins Unlawful Termination Case Against ABC

The federal court has found journalist Antoinette Lattouf was unlawfully terminated by the ABC amid complaints concerning her political opinion opposing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

On Wednesday morning, Justice Darryl Rangiah ruled that the national broadcaster breached the Fair Work Act when they sacked Lattouf after an orchestrated campaign against her, only three days into her casual contract hosting Sydney Mornings in December 2023.

“The respondent, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the ABC) contravened s772(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FWA) by terminating the employment of the applicant, Antoinette Lattouf, for reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza,” Rangiah wrote in the judgment.

Rangiah did, however, reject the notion that Lattouf was fired because of her race or national extraction.

“The evidence does not support Ms Lattouf’s claims that [David] Anderson, [Ita Buttrose, [Chris] Oliver-Taylor and [Ben] Latimer made or materially contributed to a decision to terminate her employment for reasons that included her race or national extraction.”

The ABC has been ordered to pay Lattouf $70,000 in compensation. A hearing on whether pecuniary penalties will be enforced on the ABC is set for a later date.

Lattouf terminated to appease “pro-Israel lobbyists” 

The Fair Work Act dictates that an employer must not terminate employees for their political opinion or race.

Lattouf was fired after sharing an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch that stated Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.

During her testimony in February, Lattouf said the ABC was “flooded with complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists”, and she was given the direction to “keep a low profile” online.

Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose told the managing director at the time that she was “over” the complaints about Lattouf.

“I have a whole clutch more complaints. Can’t she come down with flu or COVID or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing,” Buttrose wrote in an email.

The ABC maintained that Lattouf was terminated for failing to follow a direction given to not post about the conflict while working for the broadcaster.

Rangiah found Lattouf was “merely provided with advice that it would be best not to post anything controversial about the war” and was not given a direction not to post.

Outside the court, Lattouf addressed the press, saying,  “In December 2023, Human Rights Watch found that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.  I shared that fact.”

“It’s now June 2025- and Palestinian children are still being starved: we see them every day, skeletal, emaciated, and scavenging through rubble for scraps.

“This unspeakable suffering is not accidental. It is engineered.”