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An employee had no basis for claiming she was unfairly dismissed when she'd "simply allowed" her fifth fixed-term contract to expire by failing to sign an extension, the Fair Work Commission has found.

Email correspondence "clearly" showed that the employee knew the date on which her current contract was expiring, and not taking the employer up on its offer to extend it meant her employment ended "due to the effluxion of time", Commissioner Bernie Riordan said.

The employee commenced work as a property services coordinator for the Northern Territory's Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development in March 2024. In November that year she successfully applied for a property contract manager position, backfilling the role while a colleague was seconded, under a fixed-term contract that was due to end on 30 June 2025.

The colleague remained seconded after this date, and the employee stayed in the role under a series of fixed-term contracts. On 9 January 2026 the colleague was appointed to a new role, and on 24 February the employee exchanged emails with a manager about the employer's offer to extend her contract until 21 August 2026...