In this special end-of-year roundtable, the EWS team sits down for a rapid-fire look back at the HR moments, surprises and challenges that defined 2025 — and what employers should be ready for in 2026.

Karen is joined by Greg Arnold, Peter Norrie and Jane Van Gulick for a candid, insightful wrap-up of the year, including:

• The HR issues that just wouldn’t quit in 2025

• The “oh no, not again” moments that kept landing on our desks

• Why reasonable management action remains one of the most misunderstood areas of workplace law

• The trends and legislative changes that made life easier… and the many that didn’t

• The most creative excuses employees tried this year (including a meth-contaminated Panadol story you won’t forget)

• The behaviours we’d ban from workplaces in 2026

• The biggest misconceptions businesses still have about bullying, harassment and psychosocial safety

• 2025’s HR buzzwords — and whether we should keep or kill them

We finish with the team’s predictions for 2026 and where businesses should be focusing their energy come January.

If you want a real-world snapshot of Australian HR challenges — straight from the desks of practising consultants and employment law experts — this is the episode to queue up.