Frequently asked questions

21 days from the day after your dismissal took effect. This is a strict statutory deadline under the Fair Work Act, not a guideline. The Fair Work Commission can only accept a late application in exceptional circumstances, and its own guidance states plainly that not knowing the deadline existed is not an exceptional circumstance. If you are inside the 21 days, lodging first and refining your application afterward is safer than waiting until every question is answered.

Source: Fair Work Commission, timeframe for lodgment.

Only in exceptional circumstances. The Fair Work Commission's own guidance for unfair dismissal extension requests does not publish a percentage of how many succeed; what it does say is that exceptional circumstances are "NOT regularly, routinely or normally encountered" and that ignorance of the deadline is not, by itself, an exceptional circumstance. (A separate figure, that about 80% of extension requests are denied, is published for general protections applications specifically; that figure has not been published for unfair dismissal extensions and should not be read across.) The Commission weighs six factors, including the reason for the delay, when you became aware of the dismissal, any action you took to dispute it, prejudice to the employer, the merits of your case, and fairness to others in similar positions. A long delay is treated as working against the applicant. Extensions are the exception, not a routine second deadline.

Source: Fair Work Commission, extension of time for lodging an application.

In general, you need to have completed a minimum employment period (6 months, or 12 months if your employer is a small business with fewer than 15 employees), and if you are not covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement, you need to earn under the high income threshold ($190,100 for a dismissal on or after 1 July 2026). Genuine redundancy is a separate bar that rules out an unfair dismissal claim regardless of these two tests. This is a general summary; the am-i-eligible page on this site walks through each condition in order.

Source: Fair Work Commission, who the law protects from unfair dismissal.

The Fair Work Commission's own published figure is a median of 5 to 7 weeks' pay, well below the $95,050 compensation cap that applies to a dismissal on or after 1 July 2026 (the lesser of 26 weeks' pay or half the high income threshold); fewer than 0.4% of applicants ever receive that cap. There is no published dollar figure for a typical payout, because the Commission states the median only as a range of weeks' pay and calculates actual compensation from your own proven economic loss. Reinstatement, getting your job back, is the Commission's stated primary remedy, considered before compensation, though in practice compensation is by far the more common outcome once a claim is granted at hearing.

Source: Fair Work Commission, compensation cap and Fair Work Commission, compensation for unfair dismissal.

The Fair Work Commission's application fee is $92.70 for 2026-27, effective 1 July 2026, and it changes again on 1 July 2027 under the Commission's annual indexation. If paying the fee would cause serious hardship, you can apply to have it waived when you lodge. This is separate from whatever a lawyer, if you use one, charges for their own time.

Source: Fair Work Commission, fees and costs.

No. You can lodge and run the application yourself, and the Fair Work Commission gives process information (though not legal advice) to unrepresented applicants. Several firms handle unfair dismissal claims on a no-win-no-fee basis if you would rather have representation; that is a separate choice from the Commission's own $92.70 lodgement fee, which applies either way.

Source: Fair Work Commission, the process for unfair dismissal claims.

Unfair dismissal asks whether the dismissal itself was harsh, unjust or unreasonable, weighing factors like whether there was a valid reason and whether you got a fair process. General protections asks a different question: whether you were dismissed for a reason the law specifically prohibits, such as exercising a workplace right. Both run on the same 21-day deadline, and in general you cannot lodge both about the same dismissal once one has been lodged.

Source: Fair Work Commission, general protections applications involving dismissal.

The Fair Work Commission sends your application to your employer, who has 7 days to respond. A conciliation meeting is usually scheduled for around 5 weeks after lodgement. Conciliation is voluntary and confidential; about 75% of cases settle at that stage, which is a settlement rate, not a rate of claims being upheld on their merits. If it does not settle, the case moves to a formal hearing in front of a Commission Member.

Source: Fair Work Commission, the process for unfair dismissal claims.

A Commission staff member, called a conciliator, leads a meeting of up to 90 minutes, usually held online, and does not decide who is right or give legal advice. Both sides explain their position, the conciliator may hold private discussions with each side separately, and either side can refuse to settle. If an agreement is reached and neither side had a lawyer present, there is usually a 3-business-day cooling off period before it becomes final.

Source: Fair Work Commission, what happens in a conciliation meeting.

No. Under section 389 of the Fair Work Act, a genuine redundancy is a complete bar to an unfair dismissal claim, not a factor weighed alongside others. A redundancy is genuine if the job was no longer required due to changes in the employer's 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. A redundancy that fails any of those three tests is not a genuine redundancy in the Commission's terms.

Source: Fair Work Commission, what is a genuine redundancy?.

No. The Fair Work Commission's own guidance is explicit that it cannot order compensation for reasons such as pain and suffering, shock, distress, hurt or humiliation. Compensation is calculated from proven economic loss, using a formula that accounts for likely future remuneration, deductions for income earned since the dismissal, your own efforts to reduce that loss, and the legal cap. Whether a dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable is judged against factors like valid reason and fair process, not against how upsetting it felt.

Source: Fair Work Commission, the formula to calculate compensation.

Casual status does not automatically exclude you, but the Fair Work Commission's guidance adds a condition specific to casual employees: alongside the minimum employment period and, where relevant, the high income threshold, you also need to have been working on a regular and systematic basis. The small business employee headcount also excludes casuals unless they are engaged on a regular and systematic basis.

Source: Fair Work Commission, who the law protects from unfair dismissal.

No. What is published here explains, with sources, how the unfair dismissal and general protections process works at the Fair Work Commission. Unfair Dismissal Help is not the Fair Work Commission, not the Fair Work Ombudsman and not a law firm, does not predict outcomes, and does not replace advice from a lawyer who has actually seen your facts.

No. Most employees and employers are part of the national system the Fair Work Commission administers, but coverage varies by state, and Western Australia is the sharpest exception: an employer that is not a constitutional corporation, such as a sole trader or an ordinary partnership, sits outside the national system in WA and falls to the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission instead. State and territory public sector and local government employees are also generally outside the national system across several states.

Source: Fair Work Commission, who Australia's national workplace relations system covers.