Tennis Australia is being taken to the Federal Court by a leading umpire and former match official who allege they were unlawfully dismissed after airing concerns about selection favouritism, workplace safety and alleged bullying.
Simon Cannavan and Karen Mak claimed they had their officiating memberships terminated last year in retaliation for criticising the sport’s governing body and accused the Australian Open organiser of presiding over a culture of fear.
TA in June failed in a bid to have their case turned away by the Fair Work Commission and its bitter dispute with the match officials is now headed for court.
Cannavan, a professional chair umpire on the men’s ATP Tour, on Thursday filed documents with the Federal Court while Mak, a Melbourne barrister who worked at tournaments as a court supervisor and line judge, was due to lodge separate proceedings on Friday.
They are being represented by Melbourne firm Capree Lawyers.
The escalation of the feud is an early headache for new Tennis Australia chief executive Andrew Abdo, the former NRL chief who started last month after long-time boss Craig Tiley left to take over the United States Tennis Association, which runs the US Open.
“This action is about accountability,” the two match officials said in a statement issued by Mak. “It is about ensuring that officials can raise legitimate workplace concerns, identify problems, and suggest improvements without fear of retaliation, losing work, or damaging their future opportunities.
“We did not want to end up in court. But officials should not have to choose between speaking honestly about workplace issues and continuing to work in the sport they love.
“We want officials to be able to speak up without fear of retaliation. And, after a very long process, we want the evidence and the truth to come out.”
Tennis Australia is expected to contest the matters in court.
“Officials are valued members of our community and are encouraged to voice concerns,” a Tennis Australia spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night.”
“We also have an obligation to protect the health and safety of our staff and officials. The membership decisions at issue were made in 2025 after a long process, and TA will respond to the claim through the court.”
The organisation has previously defended its decision to cancel Cannavan and Mak’s accreditation, saying they had acted unprofessionally in the manner in which they raised the issues and that their conduct had caused mental distress to several TA employees.
Tennis Australia stripped Cannavan and Mak of their credentials over a series of newsletters they sent to the Australian officiating community last year in their capacity as directors of Tennis Officials Australia, which represents the umpires, match referees and other officials who work at tournaments.
In one of the newsletters, the Tennis Officials Australia board said it had collected evidence that indicated there was entrenched and systematic bias in the selection of match officials for tournaments and there were credible reports of “selectors rigging the process to select themselves, their friends and allies, while excluding officials they don’t like.”
They also brought up safety concerns in relation to parking at night at tournaments and
presented Tennis Australia with a report that contained bullying allegations from an Adelaide-based staffer.
Tennis Australia commissioned an external investigation, which found the male staffer had referred to a female casual match official as “unstable” but determined that the behaviour could be classed as “insults” or “teasing” and not bullying.
Cannavan and Mak said they had brought attention to issues affecting officials, including health and safety, workplace practices, and the way officials who spoke up were treated, and had sought to communicate with members about those points.
“What followed was an escalating series of attempts by Tennis Australia to control our communications and the way our elected organisation operated,” they said.
“We received multiple demands to cease communicating with our members, were told that Tennis Australia wanted advance oversight of our communication to our members, and were pressured to add people to our member-elected board because Tennis Australia was unhappy with its composition. Suggestions we made about improving the officiating system were also falsely characterised by Tennis Australia as ‘threats’.”
The removal of their memberships bars Cannavan and Mak from officiating at Tennis Australia-sanctioned events including the Australian Open and other tournaments during Australia’s summer of tennis.
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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.