Now lawWork & Super Introduced in the House of Representatives, 03 Jun 2026

Fair Work Commission gets new tools to clear cases

This law gives the workplace umpire new ways to handle a flood of cases. Many are written with AI. It also lets the federal government favour firms with workplace pay deals when it hands out contracts and grants.

Official name: Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Workers who say they were sacked unfairly or unlawfully: Their case can go straight to a private meeting, without first arguing over whether they were really sacked.
• People who keep making claims with no merit: A panel of the Commission can ban them from making more claims of that kind without permission.
• Businesses that bid for government work or grants: The government can now favour those whose staff are on a workplace pay deal.
• Owner-drivers in road transport: A separate income limit decides whether they can bring claims about unfair contracts.
• The building branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union: Its outside manager gets three months to hand in each six-monthly money report.

AI claims swamp workplace umpire

The Fair Work Commission is the national workplace umpire. It sets minimum wages. It hears claims about unfair sacking and rights at work.

Its workload has exploded. In February 2026 its President, Justice Adam Hatcher, spoke about it. He said the workload would likely grow by over 70 per cent in three years. He said this was mainly because people use AI tools to write claims.

Commission staff told a hearing held by a group of senators that 40 to 50 per cent of people making claims said they used AI. The Commission said it is harder to spot weak cases and deal with them fast.

Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth brought in this bill. She said it would help the Commission manage its workload. She said it would not cut workers' protections. It also changes rules on pay deals, trucking and union reports.

Sacking disputes start sooner

Some claims say a worker was sacked for an unlawful reason. Joining a union is one example. Using a right at work is another. These are called general protections claims. Both these and similar claims start with a private meeting at the Commission. The aim is to settle.

In 2020 the Federal Court, a national court that hears many work cases, decided a case called Coles Supply Chain v Milford. After that, a boss could say the worker was never sacked. Then the Commission had to hold a hearing on that point first. Only then could it hold the meeting.

Part 5 undoes this. You now only need to say you were sacked to start the claim. The Commission can go straight to a private meeting to help both sides agree. Whether you were really sacked can still be argued later.

Say a worker says she was pushed out, and the boss says she quit. Before, they might wait months for a ruling on that. Now they can sit down to try to settle it first.

The 21-day deadline to make a claim still applies. It now runs from the date the claimed sacking took effect.

Staff sign off failed conferences

When a meeting fails, the Commission gives out a certificate. This lets the case go to court, or to a binding ruling by the Commission. Staff could run the meeting but could not sign the certificate.

Part 6 lets the Commission President hand that power to middle-level staff and above. The same person who ran the meeting can now sign. They can also tell both sides if a court case looks unlikely to win.

Cases decided on paper

Today, if the two sides in an unfair sacking case disagree on the facts, the Commission must hold a meeting or a hearing.

Part 7 lets it decide those cases on the written papers alone. Both sides must agree. The Commission must think the case can be fairly decided that way. The same goes for gig workers cut off from an app. It also goes for owner-drivers whose contracts are ended.

Weak claims thrown out

The Commission can already throw out claims that are silly, have no real chance, or are vexatious. Vexatious means brought to annoy or harass. Part 8 lets it do this for claims by gig workers and owner-drivers too.

Part 8 also lets a panel of three or more Commission members make a ban order. It can do this after someone has had a claim thrown out for those reasons.

The order bans the person from making some kinds of claims without permission. The person must get a fair chance to argue against it first. Breaking the order is not a crime. But any claim made against it has no effect. Nobody can ask the Commission to change the order. A court can still look at it.

Firms with agreements favoured

An enterprise agreement is a deal on pay and conditions. A boss and staff bargain it, often with a union. The Fair Work Act, the main law on work rights, bans treating a boss worse because of what deal their staff are on, or not on.

Part 9 makes an exception for the federal government. When it gives grants or buys goods and services, it can favour bosses whose staff are on such a deal. It can also favour deals that cover a union.

The exception also covers businesses further down the chain. Say the government hires Company A, and Company A hires Company B. Company B can favour firms in the same way if its contract says so.

The Workplace Relations Minister can widen this to other kinds of contracts. The minister can also switch off other workplace protections in these cases. The minister must do this in person and cannot hand it to a public servant.

The government says this pushes people to bargain for better pay on work the government pays for. This was the most debated part of the bill.

Faster restart for bargaining

Supported bargaining helps low-paid workers at several bosses bargain together. The Commission must first give its approval.

Once a deal was made, everyone dropped out of that approval. They had to apply again from scratch to bargain for the next deal.

Part 10 changes this. A union that was part of the last deal can apply from three months before it ends. It can apply up to two years after. The Commission must then approve it for the same or nearly the same group. A boss whose business has changed can ask to be left out.

Income limit for owner-drivers

Contractors who earn under an income limit can bring claims to the Commission. These are claims about unfair contracts or being cut off unfairly. Owner-drivers often have high running costs, like fuel and truck loan payments. Those costs make their earnings look bigger. So many are over the limit even when their take-home pay is low.

Part 4 and Part 2 of the second list of changes set up a separate income limit for road transport contractors. The amount will be set in detailed rules the government writes without a new vote. It can never be lower than the normal contractor limit.

Say you are a long-distance owner-driver with big fuel bills. If you earn under the new limit, you can take an unfair contract claim to the Commission. That is usually cheaper than going to court. Drivers over the limit can still go to court under the Independent Contractors Act, a law for contractors.

CFMEU administrator's reports

The building branch of a large union was put under the control of an outside manager on 23 August 2024. The union is the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union. The manager must report to the minister every six months.

Each report had to include a full money report the day after the six months ended. The government says that cannot be done. Part 3 gives the manager three months to hand in the money part. The report rules stay the same.

Advisory members get travel pay

The National Construction Industry Forum gives the government advice on building work. Part 1 updates which ministers sit on it. It adds the minister for building and the minister for skills and job training. Travel money for its members can be set using the rates for senior public officials.

The Road Transport Advisory Group advises the Commission on trucking. Part 3 lets its members get travel money when the Commission's General Manager, its top staff member, agrees the trip is needed. They get no other pay for the role.

Part 2 fixes wording errors in the rules for gig workers and trucking. Some were double negatives by mistake.

Start date

Most changes started the day after the law was signed. Most only apply to claims made after that date. The ban order power applies to claims made and thrown out after the start.

The House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, passed the bill on 24 June 2026. The Senate, the upper house, passed it on 29 June 2026 with two changes from the Greens party. The House agreed to those changes on 30 June 2026.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 6 July 2026. It became Act No. 62 of 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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