FWC to nip ‘unsustainable’ workload in the bud

Through the development of new technologies to relieve resourcing pressures, the Fair Work Commission has confirmed that it will be developing new technologies and processes to address its “unsustainable” workload.

Fair Work Commission (FWC) general manager Murray Furlong said late last week that the commission is developing a pilot alternative dispute resolution process to potentially informally resolve disputes, a new staff conference model pilot, greater permissions for users on the MyFWC portal, GenAI-assisted pre-approval checks for enterprise agreement applications, an AI-assisted helpline, and improvements to the document search function on the commission’s website.

The FWC is currently undertaking an internal organisational review to address resourcing and workload pressures and the increase in the commission’s workload over recent years.

“[The] increase has coincided with a number of other changes, including a significant increase in the number of persons representing themselves in commission cases, budget constraints and resourcing challenges,” Furlong said.

As previously reported by HR Leader, self-represented litigants who used GenAI assistance tools have had a significant impact on the commission’s work, having a direct effect on the commission’s ability to provide “timely, efficient and effective dispute resolution services to the community”.

“By the end of financial year 2025–26, it is likely that the commission’s total workload will have increased by over 70 per cent in the space of three years,” Furlong said.

The commission’s most recent data shows that at the end of April, it received 44,039 lodgments, compared to the total lodgments received in the whole of the 2024–25 financial year period (44,075).

Further, the commission’s data revealed a material gradual rise in lodgments over the years, from 29,631 in 2020–21, followed by 34,122 in 2021–22, 31,523 in 2022–23, and 40,190 in 2023–24, before the figure reached 44,075 in 2024–25.

However, the commission stressed that this increased workload was more than just the lodgment volume alone. Furlong noted that the commission faced resourcing pressures to deal with the significant number of major cases, including “gender-based undervaluation matters, reviews of award provisions relating to working from home and part-time employment, and the setting of regulated worker minimum standards and contractual chain orders.”

For example, between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2025, about 1,400 jurisdictional matters relating to general protections claims were determined, resulting from the decision of the full court of the Federal Court in Coles Supply Chain Pty Ltd v Milford [2020] FCAFC 152, Furlong noted.

“The increased workload is placing strain on every element of the commission’s operations … This is unsustainable, and we cannot continue to operate in the same way,” Furlong said.

“There has been a move from collective matters to individual rights-based dispute applications to the commission over the past 10 years, and this has continued to accelerate over the past 36 months.”

“In addition to the shift from collective to individual disputes, the proportion of applicants coming to the commission without a legal or other representative has also shifted.”

Making up a significant portion of lodgments are the increasing number of self-represented litigants in general protections dismissal and unfair dismissal cases, who require plain language information, and are often informed by content generated with AI.

“To help the commission better understand and respond to the changing user profile, we have initiated external research about the use of AI in general protections and unfair dismissal matters,” Furlong said.

“We are still finalising the research; early results indicate that a significant proportion of applicants are using AI in their applications to the commission.”

“The commission will share the research once it is finalised, and we anticipate undertaking further research to assist with the responsible use of GenAI in tribunal proceedings.”

HR Leader’s inaugural HR Innovation Summit, produced alongside principal partner DLPA, is almost here! Designed for senior HR professionals who want to move beyond high-level conversations and take an active role in shaping the AI-enabled organisation, this summit is bringing together forward-thinking CHROs, people and culture leaders, and transformation experts to tackle the most pressing and often uncomfortable questions facing HR today. To learn more, and to buy tickets, click here.

Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make HR Leader a preferred news source on Google.

Carlos Tse

Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.