[2026] FWCFB 5
Citation: [2026] FWCFB 5
What happened
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is addressing changes required by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023. This Act mandates that modern awards include a 'delegates’ rights term' for workplace delegates. Initially, a Full Bench of the FWC issued a standard term for all awards, but the Federal Court of Australia (FCAFC) later found errors in how the FWC implemented this. The FCAFC ruled the standard term incorrectly limited the scope of delegate representation and communication rights. The current proceedings aim to rectify these errors and ensure compliance with the court's orders, impacting nine specific awards and all other modern awards.
What was decided
The FWC is varying all modern awards to include a revised delegates’ rights term, addressing the errors identified by the FCAFC. The revised term broadens the scope of delegate representation to include all eligible workers within an enterprise, regardless of their employer. It also expands the scope of delegate communication rights and removes limitations on the exercise of delegate rights. The FWC will apply the revised term retroactively to July 1, 2024, for the nine awards subject to the FCAFC’s decision and prospectively for all other awards. Interested parties were given a chance to submit feedback before this decision.
What it means for employers
Employers need to ensure all modern awards applicable to their workforce include the revised delegates’ rights term. This term grants workplace delegates broader representation and communication rights, potentially impacting workplace dynamics and requiring employers to facilitate delegate activities. Employers should review their award obligations and update internal policies accordingly.
What it means for employees
Employees should be aware of their workplace delegates’ expanded rights under the revised delegates’ rights term. This means delegates can represent a wider range of workers and communicate more broadly regarding industrial interests. Employees should familiarize themselves with the new term and understand how it affects their workplace representation.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/pdf/2026fwcfb5.pdfWant more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The full dataset, with structured fields for awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts, is available through the Business API. FairWork Mate AI answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. API + AI access is a paid product. Contact us for pricing or a 50% off first month.
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
This summary was drafted by AI from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections →