Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
Read Steve Knott’s address to the Tattersalls Club Workplace Relations group IR reform stocktake – and where to from here?
View Steve’s slides here.
Australia’s resources and energy employer group has urged the Albanese Government to take urgent action to restore balance and credibility to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), warning the tribunal is overloaded and losing public confidence.
In an address to the Tattersalls Club Workplace Relations Group in Brisbane (22 October 2025) AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM unveiled two key reform proposals to strengthen governance and improve performance at the national workplace relations tribunal.
“AREEA is calling for a new, tripartite appointments process involving the Minister, the ACTU and business representatives to ensure Fair Work Commission members are chosen on merit, skill and real-world experience,” Mr Knott said.
“This would return balance, transparency and public confidence to the appointments process, which has become far too politicised.”
Mr Knott also called for the statutory retirement age of FWC members to be lifted from 65 to 70, in line with the Federal Court.
“Having 65 as the FWC member age of senility is simply outdated and absurd,” he said.
“We need continuity and expertise, not an arbitrary age limit that forces out capable members. Even the current FWC President, who is a Federal Court judge, will be statutorily barred from continuing at the Commission beyond 65.
“It makes no sense to lose experienced, competent tribunal members at 65 when the scope and workload of the Commission have expanded dramatically.”
FWC ‘drowning’ in employee claims
Mr Knott also warned the Commission is “drowning in employee claims”, pointing to data showing unfair dismissal and general protections cases have surged between 20 and 50 per cent in the past year.
He said inconsistent and lenient decision-making has encouraged a wave of unmeritorious claims and undermined employer confidence.
“Too many members of the Commission are finding otherwise lawful and procedurally sound terminations to be ‘harsh, unjust or unreasonable’,” he said.
“Employers are now afraid to manage conduct or performance without being hauled before the Commission. That’s not fairness, that’s dysfunction.”
Mr Knott said urgent reform is needed to both the unfair dismissal and general protections systems.
AREEA’s proposed fixes include:
- Refocusing unfair dismissal law on fair process, not subjective views of “harshness”;
- Tightening the general protections regime by removing the reverse onus of proof, introducing a reasonable statute of limitations, and capping compensation; and
- Raising the application fee for all employee claims from $89.70 to at least $500 to discourage frivolous filings.
“Right now, the incentive to lodge nuisance claims or extract settlements is enormous,” Mr Knott said.
“Employers are often forced to settle not because they’ve done anything wrong, but because the cost of defending themselves in court is astronomical. That’s not justice – it’s extortion dressed up as industrial law.”
A system at a crossroads
Mr Knott said AREEA will continue pushing for reforms that simplify Australia’s workplace relations framework and restore productivity and confidence in the system.
“Australia’s IR system is at a crossroads,” he said.
“We can keep adding layers of regulation, social activism and bureaucracy, or we can rebuild a framework that values fairness, productivity and cooperation in equal measure.”
Read Steve Knott’s address IR reform stocktake – and where to from here?