Josh Bornstein is an Australian lawyer specialising in employment and labour relations law who has acted in several high profile legal matters. He is a member of the Board of economic

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

, Per Capita and the Advisory Board of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne. He is also head of

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, is deputy Chair of the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board. He is President of Tzedek.org, an advocacy organisation for victims of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community in Australia. Bornstein regularly represents women who have been subject to bullying or sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2021, Bornstein ran for preselection to represent the Australian Labor Party, following the retirement of Senator Kim Carr. Bornstein withdrew from the nomination following an article by ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

,'' after it was revealed he had referred to Chris Bowen as a "muppet". Bornstein is said to be considering a second attempt at running for the senate. He is ranked as Victoria's top employment lawyer by Doyle's Guide to the Australian Legal Profession, 2013 edition.

Cases in which Bornstein has been involved include

* Representing Two women sexually harassed by Peter Vickery * Representing the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exe ...

and Larry Knight's family over the Beaconsfield mine collapse * Representing

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

and

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into admin ...

employees over the

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-shee ...

of the Ansett group of companies * Assisting the Maritime Union of Australia defeat Patrick Stevedores in the High Court (see also

1998 Australian waterfront dispute The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was an event in Australian industrial relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of dismissing their workforce. The restructuring by ...

) * Representing the Wilderness Society who were sued by Gunns Limited * Representing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peter Slipper, in pursuing an abuse of process case against

James Ashby James Hunter Ashby (born 1979) is an Australian political advisor and former radio presenter. In 2012, he made allegations of sexual harassment against the former Speaker of the House, Peter Slipper, triggering a political scandal. He is curre ...

. * Representing

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

in its challenge to the legality of the ASADA investigation. He has publicly campaigned for the introduction of a national

workplace bullying Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes either physical or emotional harm. It can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, and physical abuse, as well as humiliation. ...

law and for a Royal Commission to be established into institutional child sexual abuse.

References

21st-century Australian lawyers Living people Australian Jews Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-law-bio-stub