Michaela Banerji was fired in 2013 for her criticisms - expressed under a pseudonym - of the nation's controversial immigration programmes. The court rejected her claim that she had been denied a right to free speech. The ruling could have far-reaching implications for employees who express political views, lawyers say.
Ms Banerji had been working for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, now part of the Department of Home Affairs. Using the Twitter name LaLegale, she wrote posts which often criticised Australia's immigration policies and its overseas detention of asylum seekers. The posts were sent from a personal device and almost exclusively in her own time. After learning Ms Banerji operated the account, her employers sacked her for breaching the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct - which states bureaucrats cannot express political views.
