Fair Work Commission

Our future directions

The aim of the Future Directions initiatives is to continue to improve:

• fairness and access to justice
• accountability
• innovation and timeliness, and
• support of workplace productivity through engagement with industry.

Between 2012 and 2017, the Commission implemented more than 50 initiatives, including:

• guides and tools such as benchbooks for unfair dismissal, general protections and enterprise agreements
• short video virtual tours to help familiarise first time users to the Commission's premises and processes
• access to free legal advice on jurisdictional objectives for individuals and small businesses in unfair dismissal cases program
• online access to audio files of Commission hearings.

2014–15 initiatives

On 8 May 2014, the Fair Work Commission launched Future Directions – Continuing the Change Program, a publication setting out 30 initiatives that the Commission intends to implement over the following 2 years.

The initiatives are a result of consultation with Commission Members, staff and key stakeholders. These initiatives will help guide the Commission's activities over the coming 2 years.

More information appears in the change program (PDF), the 8 May 2014 media release (PDF), and the March 2015 progress report (PDF).

2014–15 Future Directions pilot programs

As part of the Commission’s ongoing commitment to improving our public value and serve the community in the most accessible, fair and efficient manner, we have been undertaking 3 pilot programs throughout 2014–15.

The pilots are:

• the general protections pilot
• the enterprise agreement approvals pilot, and
• the permission to appeal pilot.

The Commission has commissioned independent reviews of the general protections and enterprise agreement approvals pilots.

For more information on these pilots, go to:

• 3 July pilot program update (PDF)
• 11 June pilot program update (PDF) 
• general protections pilot review (PDF)
• enterprise agreement approvals review (PDF), and
• permission to appeal pilot review (PDF).

The Commission welcomes any feedback on these pilots. All comments should be sent to feedback@fwc.gov.au.

Earlier work

In October 2012, Fair Work Australia, now the Fair Work Commission, set out the first 25 Future Directions initiatives (PDF).

By December 2013, all 25 initiatives had been successfully delivered, as had several additional initiatives. These are outlined in the 2013 Final Progress Report (PDF).

Feedback on initiatives

The Commission is keen to hear from clients and stakeholders about what we can do to make access to the Commission easier and more efficient.

Users of our services are encouraged to provide feedback to the President on our Future Directions, as well as make suggestions for future initiatives we could undertake to help clients and stakeholders in their dealings with us.

Feedback and suggestions can be emailed to futuredirections@fwc.gov.au.

Reporting on outcomes

The Commission will publish regular reports on how we are tracking with the implementation of Future Directions – Continuing the Change Program to ensure our stakeholders are kept informed about the changes we are making to support them.

Reports on the Commission’s program of initiatives can be found below.

Progress updates