What the 2026 decision means for employers On 2 June 2026, the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) Expert Panel handed down its decision in the 2026 Annual Wage Review. From the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, minimum wages under modern awards will rise by 4.75%, and the National Minimum Wage will increase to $26.44 per hour, or $1,004.90 per week, up from $24.95 per hour ($948.00 per week). That equates to a rise of roughly 5.97% in the National Minimum Wage

Businesses that perform work which is directly or indirectly funded by the Commonwealth Government, or that are recipients of Commonwealth grant funding, may wish to keep an eye on the development of the Government’s Secure Australian Jobs Code (Code). The Code was an election commitment made as part of the 'Secure Australian Jobs Plan' by the Australian Labor Party in 2021. It was intended to establish guidelines for recipients of Government spending covering worker treatm

The Federal Court has ordered costs in a case arising under the Fair Work Act in Turner v Chandler Macleod Group Limited (Costs) [2026] FCA 458. Been doing so, the Court dealt in detail with the principles applied to section 570 of that Act. As the Court noted at [4] That section is subject to the exceptions set out in s 570 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) which (relevantly) provides that costs may be ordered only if the Court is satisfied that the proceedings were instituted

The litigation between Professor Peter Ridd and James Cook University represents one of the most instructive modern Australian cases on how intellectual freedom operates within the confines of employment contracts. Rather than establishing a broad constitutional or common-law right of academic free speech, the case turned on the contractual interpretation of an enterprise agreement clause and its interaction with disciplinary powers. Specifically, the dispute concerned how an

COVID reared its ugly head in many ways across the world, being highly contentious at a political level and provocative in living rooms, where the realm of an individual's rights at a personal and professional level had never required such a declaration of moral standing. The coal industry has enough contention and coverage about its morals and actions, but add COVID mandates, and the Mt Arthur Coal mine was burning hot. Background In this instance, under the spotlight was th