The Workplace Relations Commission found Katrina Phillips’s complaint against landlord Amy Cunningham was not well founded. The decision, dated 23 August 2023, concerned Phillips’s claim that Cunningham discriminated against her over a Housing Assistance Payment application and her skin colour.
Cunningham said the house was not in suitable condition for the scheme. The adjudication officer found it did not qualify for HAP because of its age and the work required, and Phillips had not established facts supporting an inference of discrimination on that ground.
On the race ground, the officer preferred Cunningham’s account of their phone conversation and was not satisfied the alleged comment had been made. Phillips said her partner and a colleague could support her account, but neither attended the hearing to testify.