Fair Work Commission application fee, 2026-27
$92.70
per application, effective 1 July 2026
Fair Work Commission fee schedule, checked 15 September 2026. The fee is reindexed every 1 July and can be waived on application for serious hardship.
Am I eligible to make an unfair dismissal claim?
Six questions, in the order the Fair Work Commission actually checks them, starting with whether the Commission has jurisdiction at all. The first five decide eligibility and jurisdiction; the sixth, the 21-day deadline, can end a claim regardless of how the others come out.
This does not predict whether your claim would succeed
Nothing here scores your situation or returns a likelihood of winning. These are the
jurisdictional gates the Commission checks before it even considers whether a dismissal was
harsh, unjust or unreasonable. A "yes" that clears every gate here means these six checks did
not rule the claim out; it is not a guarantee the Commission has jurisdiction in every
circumstance (the national-system question above has state-by-state exceptions this page
cannot fully enumerate), and it says nothing about how the claim would be decided on its
merits.
1. Do you work for a national system employer?
The Fair Work Commission can only hear an unfair dismissal claim if the employer is part of the national workplace relations system, which is where the Commission's own eligibility test starts. Most Australian employers and employees are in it, but not all: in Western Australia specifically, an employer that is not a constitutional corporation (an individual, a sole trader, an ordinary partnership) sits outside the national system entirely, and in NSW, QLD, SA, TAS and WA, state public sector and local government employees generally sit outside it too, wherever they work. Outside the national system, a state or territory industrial tribunal has jurisdiction instead of the Fair Work Commission.
If your answer points the wrong way: Not a national system employer or employee (most commonly a WA employer that is not a constitutional corporation, or a state public sector or local government role in NSW, QLD, SA, TAS or WA): the Fair Work Commission has no jurisdiction to hear the claim at all, regardless of how the remaining questions come out. Read the national-system-vs-state-systems guide before going further.
2. How long were you employed before the dismissal took effect?
The Fair Work Commission's guidance sets a minimum employment period of 6 months, or 12 months if the employer is a small business with fewer than 15 employees. Where a business changed ownership, service with the earlier employer can sometimes count toward this period, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman, though whether that applies to a specific sale of business is a case-by-case question this page cannot answer.
If your answer points the wrong way: Under 6 months (or under 12 months at a small business): the minimum employment period is very likely not met, and this alone can end an unfair dismissal claim before it starts.
3. Were you dismissed because your job was genuinely made redundant?
Genuine redundancy is a complete bar under section 389 of the Fair Work Act, not a factor weighed alongside others. It applies where the employer no longer needed your job performed by anyone due to changes in its operational requirements, any consultation obligation under an award or agreement was met, and redeployment within the employer's enterprise (or an associated entity) was not reasonably possible.
If your answer points the wrong way: Yes, and all three conditions were genuinely met: the Fair Work Commission's guidance is that an unfair dismissal application cannot be made at all. A redundancy that skipped consultation or ignored a real redeployment option is not automatically barred.
4. If you are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, do you earn under the high income threshold?
The high income threshold is $190,100 for a dismissal on or after 1 July 2026, according to the Fair Work Commission. It only limits eligibility for someone not otherwise covered by a modern award or an enterprise agreement; if an award or agreement covers your role, earning above the threshold does not by itself rule you out.
If your answer points the wrong way: Earning above $190,100 with no award or agreement covering your role: the high income threshold most likely applies, and this alone can end an unfair dismissal claim.
5. If your employer is a small business, was the dismissal consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code?
Where an employer has fewer than 15 employees, counted across associated entities and excluding casuals not working regularly, a dismissal is measured against the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, published separately by the Fair Work Ombudsman. This site has not opened the Code's own published text, so it cannot tell you whether a specific dismissal met a specific requirement of it.
If your answer points the wrong way: Not sure: read the Code itself, published by the Fair Work Ombudsman, rather than relying on a general summary of it.
6. Has it been 21 days or fewer since the dismissal took effect?
This is the deadline, and it sits apart from the other four questions because it can end a claim regardless of how the others come out. The count starts the day after the dismissal, weekends and public holidays inside the 21 days do not pause it, and the Fair Work Commission will only accept a later application in exceptional circumstances, a standard its own guidance describes as not regularly, routinely or normally encountered.
If your answer points the wrong way: More than 21 days have passed: you would need to separately satisfy the Commission that exceptional circumstances explain the delay before your actual case is even considered. Read the deadline guide before assuming an extension is available.
What it costs to actually find out
Working through these five questions is free. If they point toward eligibility, lodging with the Fair Work Commission is the next step, and it has its own fixed fee, separate from whatever a lawyer might charge.
Where to go next
- Which system covers you: the national system, or a state one.
- The 21-day deadline, in full.
- The minimum employment period explained.
- The high income threshold explained.
- Genuine redundancy: a complete bar, not a factor.
- The application fee and hardship waiver.
Where this came from
- Fair Work Commission: who Australia's national workplace relations system covers.
- Fair Work Commission: who the law protects from unfair dismissal.
- Fair Work Commission: what is a genuine redundancy?.
- Fair Work Commission: high income threshold.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: unfair dismissal.
- Fair Work Commission: timeframe for lodgment, 21 days.
- Fair Work Commission: extension of time for lodging an application.
- Fair Work Commission: fees and costs.