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employment & labour
Fair Work Commission lifts minimum and award wages
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
By Jorge Paraskevopoulos
Federal Court makes costs orders in Fair Work case
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
By Ian Latham
Intellectual Freedom & Contractual Limits at jcu
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
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
COvid mandates lawful at mt arthur coal
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
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
qantas fined & establish $120M compensation fund
In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Qantas Airways Ltd undertook a large-scale restructuring program, resulting in the outsourcing of approximately 1,820 ground-handling positions across its Australian operations. This workforce included baggage handlers, aircraft cleaners, and ramp staff, many of whom were unionised and represented by the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU). Background At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s aviation sector was operatin
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
Secure australian jobs code- can harmony be found?
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
By Kat Eather
ANNOUNCEMENT - The Brief has officially launched in Australia and is now accepting submissions and press releases from legal professionals and PR
Alleged Bullying and a Toxic Workplace at ASx
The employment dispute brought by former Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) executive Jamie Halstead has surfaced during a period of sustained institutional scrutiny for Australia’s primary financial markets operator. Since the appointment of Helen Lofthouse as Chief Executive Officer, the ASX has faced heightened regulatory engagement and public criticism in relation to technology governance, platform reliability, and disclosure practices. Much of that attention has focuse
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
the show must go on during port negotiations
In late 2023, a protracted industrial relations dispute between DP World Australia and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) crystallised around the negotiation of a replacement enterprise agreement covering stevedoring staff at Australia’s four principal container terminals - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle. The legal foundation of the dispute was the enterprise bargaining framework in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), which enables employees to take protected industri
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
hC delivers clarity for independent contractors
Deliveroo Australia Pty Ltd v Diego Franco is a defining case at the intersection of Australia’s expanding gig economy and the legal boundaries of traditional employment protections. At its core was a straightforward yet legally profound question: under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), was a delivery rider engaged via a digital platform an employee with access to statutory unfair dismissal remedies, or an independent contractor operating a commercial service provider? The answer
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
Redundancy, it is or it isn't — Helensburgh Coal v Bartley
At its core, Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd v Bartley & Ors is not a dispute about whether an employer may restructure its workforce. That power is well established under Australian employment law. Instead, the case turns on a narrower but more consequential legal question: when employees are dismissed as redundant, how far must an employer go to consider alternative workforce arrangements before the dismissal can lawfully be described as a “genuine redundancy”? The High Court’s an
By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL
back to the future - e&L 100 years ago
In the early 1920s, the Australian federal industrial relations system, operating under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 - 1920, was tasked with resolving industrial disputes through conciliation and arbitration. The system permitted the creation of awards to settle conflicts between employers and employees and, in some circumstances, to establish industry-wide conditions, and in this case the boundaries of union coverage were tested. background In 1925,
By CJ DORE
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