Unfair dismissal and general protections claims hit new highs in 2025–26 as employers face longer waits and earlier intervention
Australia’s national workplace tribunal received a record 53,666 lodgements in 2025–26, and its leaders say generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are now a major driver of the unfair dismissal and general protections claims reaching employers.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) Annual Report 2025–26, presented to Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth, shows lodgements rose 22 per cent on the 44,075 received in 2024–25. The tribunal describes this as one of the largest year-on-year increases in its history.
Unfair dismissal applications reached 18,653, or 35 per cent of all lodgements, up 40 per cent on 2020–21. General protections dismissal applications rose even faster. These are claims alleging an employee was dismissed for a prohibited reason, such as exercising a workplace right. They climbed to 9,024 in 2025–26, up 123 per cent from 4,102 in 2020–21.
Together, the two dismissal-related claim types made up more than half of the commission’s caseload.
Why AI is behind the dismissal claims spike
Justice Adam Hatcher, president of the FWC, wrote in the report that dismissal applications have historically tracked the state of the labour market. That relationship has broken down in recent years, and the latest increase broadly coincided with the arrival of popular generative AI tools.
“It can now be reasonably inferred that the Commission has experienced a gradual and then sudden impact of the use of GenAI tools,” Hatcher said.
He pointed to the widespread use of AI-generated language in application documents as evidence of the trend. The consequences are already appearing in individual cases: earlier this year, the commission dealt with an Aldi worker ordered to pay costs over an AI-generated claim, after he ignored repeated warnings from the FWC that his unfair dismissal claim was “hopeless” and unlikely to succeed.
Murray Furlong, general manager of the FWC, said the increase was largely driven by self-represented applicants. These applicants often need extra support from commission members and staff to understand and take part in their matters.
“The rapid development and proliferation of artificial intelligence has already fundamentally reshaped the Commission’s operating environment,” Furlong said.
Slower outcomes and falling user satisfaction
The FWC finalised 50,162 matters in 2025–26, more than in any previous year. Finalisations still lagged behind new work. The clearance rate fell to 93 per cent, down from 98 per cent in 2024–25.
Timeliness also slipped. In 2025–26, 69 per cent of matters were finalised within eight weeks, compared with 80 per cent the year before. The share finalised within 16 weeks fell from 95 per cent to 92 per cent. Both results still met the commission’s targets of 50 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.
Satisfaction among parties to conciliation also dropped. The positive user experience rating for dispute resolution services was 78 per cent, against a target of 75 per cent. The rating was 82 per cent for unfair dismissal parties and 62 per cent for parties in general protections dismissal matters. Employers made up 32 per cent of the 1,425 survey respondents.
The report says changes to case management made to absorb the higher workload may have contributed to the decline. Parties also had to wait longer for conciliation.
These pressures confirm Justice Hatcher’s earlier warning that the commission’s workload was unsustainable.
“It is not sustainable for us to continue to do things in the way we have done them in the past,” Hatcher wrote in the report.
What does the FWC annual report mean for employers?
The commission began reviewing its case management of general protections dismissal matters in July 2025. It has since amended application and response forms, trialled new conference procedures and updated its guidance materials. A review of unfair dismissal case management is scheduled to follow in 2026–27.
Other changes include expanded early intervention and dispute resolution led by staff, along with more focused conference models. The MyFWC portal, launched in August 2025, is now the main lodgement channel for unfair dismissal and general protections dismissal applications. The FWC aims to have 90 per cent of all applications lodged through MyFWC within two years.
For HR leaders, the report points to three practical realities. Claims volumes are unlikely to ease while AI tools lower the barrier to lodging. A growing share of applicants will be self-represented. And employers can expect earlier, more substantive engagement with the commission once a claim lands, including under the proposed Fair Work Commission rule changes affecting employers that are now under consultation.
Furlong signalled that the pressure will continue.
“The years ahead are anticipated to bring further disruption, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes more capable, more accessible and more deeply embedded in everyday life and work,” he said.
