Bill Proposes Changes to Australia’s Fair Work Commission Procedure and General Protections Provisions

On June 3, 2026, the Australian Government introduced into Federal Parliament the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026 (Bill). If passed, the Bill will amend Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), the Independent Contractors Act 2006, and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (FWRO Act). 

Among the proposed changes, the Bill seeks to implement certain changes to the dismissal and unlawful termination provisions of the FW Act so that the Fair Work Commission (Commission) could begin dealing with a dispute based on an alleged dismissal or termination, without first determining whether a dismissal or termination in fact occurred. The proposed amendments appear to respond to the Full Federal Court case of Coles Supply Chain Pty Ltd v Milford [2020] FCAFC 152 where the Commission considered this issue. 

The Bill also proposes to permit delegation of certain powers in unresolved dismissal and unlawful termination disputes to senior Commission staff. In addition, it would allow some matters to be determined on the papers where the Commission considers that appropriate and the parties consent. 

The proposed changes sit alongside a new mechanism enabling the Commission, through a Full Bench, to restrict further applications by litigants whose earlier applications were dismissed, subject to procedural fairness requirements. 

The Bill would further create a road transport contractor high-income threshold and align related provisions in both the FW Act and the Independent Contractors Act 2006. In addition, it would make it easier in certain circumstances to obtain a supported bargaining authorization for a replacement multi-enterprise agreement and would introduce reporting changes affecting the Construction and General Division under the FWRO Act. 

Taken together, the amendments indicate a stronger emphasis on case management, procedural efficiency, and control of repetitive or unmeritorious filings, which is likely being driven by historically high case filings at the Commission and the increased reliance on AI by self-represented litigants. 

Overall, the Bill is a technical reform package. Several proposed amendments—particularly those concerning Commission procedure, repeat applications, and procurement-related general protections exemptions—could have significant procedural and compliance consequences if enacted. 

The Bill is in initial stages of its passage through Parliament so we may see amendments before it is passed in final form.