Australian common law does not recognise an entitlement to damages for personal injury (including psychiatric injury) resulting from wrongful termination of a contract of employment; the very few cases yielding a contrary result are at odds with principle. A term requiring an employer to act in good faith and fairly in connection with termination cannot be implied into an employment contract. However, damages for distress are recoverable under the Trade Practices Act and Fair Trading Act for statutory contraventions, and damages for both physical injury and distress are recoverable in deceit. Whether damages may be awarded under the Trade Practices Act or Fair Trading Act for persisting psychological conditions (as distinct from distress) remains an open question.
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