Liz Purtell and Sharon Brown have finally been paid after a 10-month fight. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
All employees laid off by clothing store Autograph Griffith have finally been paid their full entitlements, 10 months after their store closed.
The news comes as the Griffith duo at the centre of the fight for justice are to appear on SBS TV’s current affair show Dateline, at 9:30 pm on Tuesday night (5 August).
Liz Purtell and Sharon Brown lost their jobs after a combined 42 years at the retail outlet when parent company Mosaic Brands went into administration in October 2024.
Mosaic’s other outlets – Katies, Rivers, Rockmans, Crossroads, W.Lane, BeMe, Millers and Noni B – all gradually shut their stores across Australia, leaving 2800 mostly female employees out of a job.
As the company had a $249 million debt, it was uncertain whether those left out of work would ever be paid owed entitlements such as unpaid annual and long service leave.
The Griffith duo campaigned hard on behalf of all the wronged employees.
In February 2025, the Federal Government announced it would intervene to ensure workers owed entitlements were paid under the Fair Entitlement Guarantee (FEG), a taxpayer-funded safety net scheme that provides financial assistance to those who have lost their jobs through company bankruptcy and are not paid what they are owed.
Katies ended its 68 years in operation in Australia earlier this year, due to Mosaic Brands’ collapse. Photo: Facebook.
But the pair still had to battle bureaucracy and fill out paperwork for several months before being paid.
“The money has finally dropped in my account, the day before we are about to appear on TV,” Ms Brown said.
“I think I was the last one to finally get paid; it’s a relief, the others have all got their money too. We can finally put an end to this saga.”
Dateline presenter Calliste Weitenberg visited Griffith in June and interviewed both women.
SBS TV is looking at the whole story of how Mosaic Brands collapsed and the impact this had on workers in Australia and garment factories in Bangladesh.
“When you see what happened overseas to the garment workers in Bangladesh, you realise that we weren’t that bad off after all,” Ms Purtell said.
As at 3 August, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) had paid 1468 eligible former Mosaic Brands Group employees their outstanding entitlements through the FEG.
There are 254 former employees who have applied for their payments but are still having their claims assessed.
“The department continues to work closely with the receivers for Mosaic Brands Group to enable FEG claims to be processed as quickly as possible,” a DEWR spokesperson said.
Former Mosiac Brands Group employees can lodge a claim for FEG assistance online. Employees can find the hard copy claim form and additional fact sheets and useful information on the FEG website, or can contact FEG on 1300 135 040.
