Where the Commonwealth engages a person under a statutory authority that authorises only contracts for services, the fact that the practical operation of the relationship exhibits common law indicia of employment does not make the person a 'Commonwealth public sector employee' within s 170CD(1) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth). The character of the statutory authority, not the practical operation of the relationship, determines whether employment exists 'by authority of a law of the Commonwealth'. Any residual executive power to engage employees would not apply to departmental positions generally governed by statute.
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