This passage from a recent unfair dismissal decision of the Fair Work Commission deals with the utility of contemporaneous records to issues of contested evidence.
“The importance of approaching fact-finding based on the contemporaneous documentary record and objective circumstances was described by Lee J in Transport Workers’ Union v Qantas (No.1) (TWU).116 The circumstances before me markedly differ to those that his Honour sets out. However, what was said in TWU at paragraph [17] warrants repeating. His Honour adopted an approach which was premised on the assumption that contemporaneous notes and documents are the extemporaneous and unvarnished product of the conduct of internal dealings or communications between the contesting parties, and that confidence can be placed on the contemporaneous record, particularly where that record is unfiltered and sufficiently complete.”
Shah v Gastech Australia Pty Ltd – [2025] FWC 271 delivered 30 January 2025 per Beaumont DP