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Practice Leader

Fran Keyes

(Brisbane based)

Fran Keyes is currently the Practice Leader of our Employment and Discrimination Law practice. Fran completed a Bachelor of Laws & Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1996, and the High Court of Australia and Federal Court of Australia in 2000.

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Fran has extensive experience in public law. From 2007 to 2018 Fran led large government legal practices at Crown Law Queensland, providing legal and strategic advice to government departments including:

  • Justice & Attorney-General Queensland
  • WorkCover Queensland
  • Queensland Police Service
  • Education Queensland 
  • Communities & Disability Services Queensland
  • Emergency Services Queensland
  • Ambulance Services Queensland
  • Corrective Services Queensland
  • Transport and Main Roads
  • Premier and Cabinet

During 2013 Fran was seconded from Crown Law to lead the Queensland Health Payroll Commission of Inquiry team as Director and Official Solicitor.

In 2018, Fran attained accreditation as a Nationally Accredited Mediator (NMAS) through the Department of Justice & Attorney-General Queensland and completed the Legal Practice Management Course at Queensland Law Society. In 2022, she completed postgraduate studies in family dispute resolution practice at College of Law.

Fran’s focus over the past 5 years has been advising and representing institutional clients, schools, charities, not-for-profits, businesses and individual clients in matters relating to employment law, discrimination law, safety law, school law, disciplinary law, unlawful termination, general protections, bullying and harassment, contracts including restraint of trade and confidentiality clauses, dispute resolution including mediation, workers compensation, institutional abuse and public liability.

She has instructed and advocated in numerous trials and applications in the High Court of Australia, Queensland Supreme Court (including Court of Appeal), Queensland District Court, Fair Work Commission, Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, QCAT, Magistrates Court.

Fran is an experienced litigator. In 2020, she was Solicitor Advocate in a successful appeal involving allegations of discrimination before the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission in Compuworld Pty Ltd v Liu [2020] FWCFB 4250. Fran also instructed Queen’s Counsel in a discrimination matter before the Queensland Court of Appeal in Sunshine Coast HHS v Webb [2020] QCA 189. During 2020 & 2021, Fran instructed Queen’s Counsel in a work health and safety dispute in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission and then the Queensland Court of Appeal in Enco Precast Pty Ltd v CFMMEU [2022] QCA 94.