Institute for Leadership and Management Australian Defence Force's Reference Group on Women Professional works Gardner has authored, co-authored and edited a number of texts in the fields of industrial relations and human resource management, which have been widely used as course texts in Australian universities. She's also a regular contributor to a wide range of international journals and speaker at various academic and government conferences. Between 1998 and 2002, as Chair of two major Queensland Government taskforces, Prof. Gardner also authored three government reviews: Queensland Industrial Relations Legislation, Pathways Articulation Through the Post-Compulsory Years of School to Further Education Training and Labour Market Participation. A selection of Gardner's research is available from the RMIT Research Repository. Controversy In 2011 whilst Vice-Chancellor of RMIT, Gardner overturned the findings of an internal RMIT Redundancy Review Committee (RRC) and unlawfully terminated the employment of Social Sciences Professor Judith Bessant. The RRC found that fair process had been not been followed by the university and that there had been a failure of natural justice. Despite these findings, Gardner decided to proceed to make Professor Bessant redundant. On behalf of Bessant, the National Tertiary Education Union launched an "adverse action" claim against RMIT and Gardner in the Federal Court of Australia. The presiding judge, Justice Gray, was critical of Gardner's management of the case, especially given her considerable experience in industrial relations. In deciding the case, Gray also said he took into consideration the "apparent determination" by Gardner to "ignore her knowledge of Professor Hayward's animosity towards Professor Bessant". He also found that Gardner displayed a lack of contrition for what the court found to be a blatant contravention of workplace laws. The Federal Court reinstated Bessant, and indicated that she would be entitled to approximately $2 million in compensation if she was not reinstated. The Court also ordered RMIT to pay a civil penalty of $37,000 for two contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009, as a warning to employers of the risks of using "sham" redundancies as a means for dismissing difficult employees. The case was reported in the national media, in addition to becoming an important case study that is widely discussed on legal websites. Bessant later published a personal account of the case. Honours In 2007, Gardner was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours, for her "service to tertiary education, particularly in the areas