NSW Employing a family member

[Ted North]

Is it legal for an organisation to include in their employment policy that the CEO must not employ a family member in their organisation? (Not for profit, NSW)

Especially when the family member is the best or only applicant after a thorough recruitment process that was managed by HR (CEO not involved in any way, family member will be employed in a position that is at least four reporting levels below the CEO).

 

[Nighthelyn]

Dear Ted North,

The closest relating to your question is under the Fair Work Act 2009, which protects workers from discrimination from discrimination - adverse action claim protect against unlawful discrimination. Personal characteristics protected from discrimination include:

• age
• race, colour, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status
• religion or political opinion
• sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity
• marital status
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• family or career responsibilities
• physical or mental disability

State laws further protect employees from discrimination and may include additional characteristics but nothing specific for NSW. However the “not hire family member by a specific staff” which is effectively “anti-favortism” is not really what the law is concerned about and without more facts does not appear to fall into a class of behaviours that would be construed as unlawful discrimination. So yes it is probably legal.

I say probably because the policy is a bit odd that it only target CEO’s family so e.g. if the CEO is of a specific ethnicity that is rare it could potentially be argued that this policy is a disguised unlawful discrimination - history how this policy came to be many be relevant to examine further. If there is sufficient support and subject to how company constitution dictate how an employment policy can be amended it could be overruled.

The fact that it is a non-profit is irrelevant - Fair Work Act 2009 applies to employees of a a non-profit organisation.

Good luck!

-Nighthelyn

 

[Rod]

Is it legal for an organisation to include in their employment policy that the CEO must not employ a family member in their organisation?

Yes.

 

[Tim W]

Yes.

Agreed.
Especially in the NFP sector.
It's been a problem in certain types of organisations linked to certain demographic groups.

 

[Ted North]

Thank you for your replies.

 

[Martis]

Ahhh employing a family member — classic nepotism + compliance spaghetti vibes 😅 Suddenly it’s not just “hire someone you trust,” but conflict of interest, payroll, super, and HR policies all doing a cha-cha 👀

Most headaches come from upstream fuzziness: vague policies, informal “just trust us” vibes, or unclear reporting lines. Once auditors or HR get involved, it’s a tangle of documentation, approvals, and compliance checks 😬

Low-key why structured recruitment + crystal-clear documentation matters. Platforms like AcademicJobs.com are clutch — formalised position descriptions, transparent recruitment workflows, and compliance-aligned pipelines help make sure family hires are above board from day dot, especially in academia/research roles where funding, multi-tier approvals, and project oversight can get… messy 😅

Anyway, loving this convo — employing family nuance deserves way more airtime than it usually gets 😂