The Wire

It seems eight Stolen Wages claimants may have lost their last chance for redress after a landmark Federal Court ruling found they were employed by a church-run mission in the 1970s and 80s, even though the state government provided money for their meagre wages. The ruling means claimants have effectively reached a brickwall in their efforts to receive proper pay for their work on the Lutheran Church’s Hope Vale Mission, over 300km north of Cairns. And the government escapes liability even though the evidence shows they set the rates of pay and gave the church the funds for wages. The Claimants at the centre of the case say they remain undeterred and will seek compensation.

Baird v State of Queensland [2005]