Rob Jackson

Rob provides practical advice and representation to employers and executives, covering all facets of the working relationship. With a strong focus on employment-related litigation, his expertise covers all areas of the employment relationship, including non-compete clauses, bonus and commission disputes, garden leave obligations and redundancy programs. His expertise extends to matters involving shareholder and unit holder entitlements, intellectual property rights and director’s duties.

His expertise also includes occupational health and safety (OH&S) prosecutions, such as workplace manslaughter, health and safety representative rights, and union right of entry. He conducts independent workplace investigations for employers, advises employees subject to workplace investigations, defamation claims, concerns notices, whistleblower disclosures in both the private and public sectors, and defends regulatory actions taken by the Fair Work Ombudsman, Department of Home Affairs, and Victoria Police.

Rob represents executives and directors in dispute with their employer in the private sector, government sector and not-for-profit sector. He regularly presents seminars to business groups, company boards and educational events for lawyers on various employment law and OHS themes.

Rob is the author of Post-Employment Restraint of Trade, published by Federation Press, reflecting his practice in advising employers and executives on their post-employment obligations.

He was admitted to practise in England and Wales in 1992, and the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia in 1997. He is an Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations Law and Commercial Litigation, and holds a Master of Intellectual Property Law from Monash University.

Rob was involved in establishing workplace relations as a specialist area of accreditation for the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV). He has served on the LIV’s specialist committee from 2002 to 2010, and again from 2016 to 2022 to establish standards and set examinations for lawyers seeking accreditation in workplace relations.  He has acted as a volunteer adviser on refugee law to Refugee Legal for over 20 years.

Rob is a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety, the Law Institute of Victoria, and the Law Society of England and Wales. He is registered as a lawyer with the Department of Home Affairs (LPN 5510986) and was previously a registered migration agent since 2005 focusing on work-related visas.

Significant experience

• Representing employers in all Fair Work Commission claims, anti-discrimination claims and Court disputes (state and federal).
• Conducting independent investigations into workplace misconduct in not-for-profits and advising employees subject to workplace investigations.
• Representing employers in OH&S WorkSafe investigations and prosecutions from ‘near misses’ to fatalities, including workplace manslaughter, in the Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Coroners’ Court.
• Advising and representing employers on related workers’ compensation matters.
• Corporate social responsibility obligations arising in the workplace, eg equal employment opportunity obligations, modern slavery reporting obligations and management of whistleblower disclosures.
• Acting for senior executives (eg CEOs, CFOs,) and board members
  in dispute with their employer, covering issues such as intellectual property, share disputes, defamation, directors’ duties and white-collar crime (insider trading and fraud).

Recognition

In the Doyle’s Employment Guide 2025, Rob was named in the Leading Employment Lawyers (Employer Representation) – Victoria. He has previously been recognised by Doyle’s Guides for his expertise and abilities in the areas of employment and industrial relations, and workplace health and safety.