Richard Gunningham

Richard leads the employment and safety practice at Batch Mewing Lawyers, providing practical and strategic advice to employers of all sizes on complex human resource issues, industrial relations matters, and workplace safety law. With a focus on fostering positive relationships between employers and their workforce, Richard advises on both individual and collective employment matters. He is committed to helping clients avoid and manage disputes, but when litigation becomes necessary, he draws upon extensive experience to advocate effectively for outcomes aligned with his clients’ objectives. Richard has worked across a broad range of industries, bringing valuable insights from his previous in-house roles in industrial relations. This experience has honed his negotiation and advocacy skills, and informs his pragmatic approach to delivering clear and actionable advice. His expertise covers a wide spectrum, including industrial relations strategy, union engagement, right of entry issues, enterprise agreement drafting, negotiation and dispute resolution, and compliance with the Australian Building and Construction Commission’s Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work 2016. In employment matters, Richard assists with managing performance and conduct issues, termination processes, discrimination claims, and matters relating to illness and injury in the workplace. He also represents clients in litigation involving breaches of confidentiality and restraint of trade clauses, underpayment claims, Modern Award breaches, sham contracting disputes, injurious falsehood, and interference with contractual relations. On the safety front, Richard provides advice and training to employers regarding their workplace duties, with an emphasis on incident prevention and effective incident management. Selected matters include resolving a multimillion-dollar underpayment claim for an infrastructure client before hearing, avoiding penalties and adverse publicity; securing urgent injunctions on behalf of an ASX-listed mining company to prevent breaches of confidentiality and restrictive covenants by former senior executives; and representing an international recruitment company in complex Supreme Court litigation involving defamation, injurious falsehood, and criminal contempt allegations.