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A senior industrial relations figure described at an inquiry into bad behaviour in the Queensland construction sector as “a friend of the CFMEU” has had an appeal against her dismissal denied by the state Industrial Relations Commission.
Helen Burgess, formerly employed as the Office of Industrial Relations’ director of construction compliance, was given a show-cause notice in October 2025 laying out seven allegations, including conflicts of interest with CFMEU heavyweights.
Four of the allegations were substantiated by the investigator, Donna Heelan, with a fifth partially substantiated.
Burgess had been moved from her role in compliance to one in strategy in February 2023. Following the show-cause letter she was suspended on full pay from January 21 through to the end of June this year.
Three of the substantiated allegations related to her relationship with a union delegate named Paul Williams, including that she did not disclose the relationship and chaired the selection panel for a job that his son, Nathan Williams, applied for, and then got, as a senior inspector with the OIR in 2020.
Before the interview, Burgess said she knew Nathan Williams’ parents, but was not familiar with him, which Heelan deemed “blatantly dishonest”.
In her rebutting of that allegation, Burgess said her direct boss, Marc Dennett, was aware of the situation, and the three-person panel had recommended the younger Williams unanimously.
Following his employment with the OIR, Burgess did not complete a conflict of interest form about their relationship – the third allegation – before going on to approve his sick leave and time sheets on multiple occasions.
Heelan also found Burgess failed to disclose a conflict of interest caused by her relationship with former Queensland and Northern Territory Work Health and Safety co-ordinator for the CFMEU Kurt Pauls.
Between May 31, 2024, and January 13, 2025, Burgess and Pauls spoke on the phone 117 times, sometimes for as long as 40 minutes, with text messages between Dennett and Burgess suggesting there were further calls not captured by the investigation.
Burgess said she had a close professional relationship with Pauls, but they did not socialise outside work.
Heelan did not support allegations that Burgess had shared confidential information with Dennett, or that her friendship with former CFMEU president Royce Kupsch had led to another real or perceived conflict of interest.
The partially substantiated allegation related to Burgess’ contact with Kupsch and Pauls on her personal phone, something she had twice been warned about.
Heelan accepted Burgess’ argument that all the calls to Kupsch were after he left the CFMEU in 2022, limiting her findings to calls with Pauls.
In a finding delivered last week, Commissioner Minna Knight substantiated all of Heelan’s findings, and rejected Burgess’ appeal.
Burgess’ role at the OIR has also been the subject of evidence at the Queensland government’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and Misconduct in the Construction Industry, with the office’s former deputy director-general providing evidence he had wanted to sack her after he came on board in 2023.
Peter McKay, who was the deputy director-general from June 2023 to June 2024, told the inquiry then-CFMEU secretary Michael Ravbar had seen the “answer to every problem being the return of Burgess” to her compliance role after she had been removed from the fray in February 2023.
“In almost every conversation that I had with him, he would raise the issue of putting Ms Burgess back in charge of the inspectors,” McKay said, including words to the effect of “if you would agree to put Helen back, this wouldn’t be a problem”.
As a reprisal for not doing so, McKay said union organisers were instructed to call him directly with complaints, rather than using a specifically set up hotline.
The inquiry also heard about the existence of complaints that Burgess had bullied and abused safety inspectors under her control, including directing some to issue stop-work notices they believed to be unlawful.
That commission of inquiry continues, with further evidence to be heard in Brisbane on Wednesday.
With Matt Dennien
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