FWC reveals host of reforms following surge in cases in 2025
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has unveiled a suite of reforms aimed at streamlining its processes for handling general protections dismissal applications, following a surge in case lodgements over the past year.
In a statement, FWC President Justice Hatcher revealed that the Commission received 44,075 lodgements in the 2024–25 financial year, an increase of 24% above the five-year average.
"This continuing rate of growth in the Commission's workload is unsustainable within the Commission's current operational, performance and funding structures," Hatcher stated.
"It is also compromising the Commission's capacity to devote resources to matters of high public value such as the facilitation of enterprise bargaining, industrial dispute resolution, and the rectification of gender-based undervaluation in modern awards."
Reforms to case management
To address these challenges, the FWC is implementing a series of reforms, which include amended application and response forms, new procedures for dispute resolution conferences, and changes to how late applications are handled.
Applicants are now required to provide additional information when requesting representation by a lawyer or paid agent, and must answer new questions if lodging outside the 21-day timeframe.
Respondents must now "identify and explain" any jurisdictional objections in their initial response, rather than simply ticking a box, according to the Commission.
The FWC is also piloting a new approach to conferences, including a new notice of listing that includes information about the Commission's limited role and what to expect at the conference, and the conduct of expedited, settlement-focused conferences.
Meanwhile, the statement also addressed the role of paid agents, noting that approximately 46% of applicants were represented by a lawyer or paid agent between July 1, 2022, and September 30, 2025.
Hatcher, citing recommendations from a working group, added that paid agents should "conduct themselves in an ethical and honest manner" and "act in the best interests of the parties they represent."
Surge in FWC lodgements
The FWC president's statement comes after the Commission received 44,075 lodgements in the 2024–25 financial year.
Unfair dismissal cases accounted for 16,500 lodgements, while General Protections (involving dismissal) claims accounted for 6,209 lodgements.
The rate of growth also accelerated in the first quarter of 2025–26, with the agency getting 13,761 lodgements from July 1 to September 30, 2025, up by 45% from the three-year Q1 average.
Among these cases, 2,120 were general protections dismissal applications, up 57% on the three-year average for lodgements in Q1.
"If this trend continues, the number of total lodgements for 2025–26 will exceed 50,000, and the number of general protections dismissal applications will exceed 8,000," Hatcher said.
