Fair Work Court to assist Australian workers with employment, underpayment issues

Australian workers will be able to escalate their employment issues and underpayment claims to a new specialist federal court under a Labor pledge that delivers on a long-term demand of the union movement.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off the Labor Party’s triennial national conference in Adelaide on Thursday by announcing that consultation on the new Fair Work Court would soon begin.

The government’s plans will reinstate a special workers’ court for the first time in almost 30 years. Former prime minister John Howard abolished the specialist industrial relations court in 1997 and moved its jurisdiction to the Federal Court, as part of an industrial relations overhaul that sought to curb union influence.

Albanese’s announcement was swiftly welcomed by the unions, which are attending this week’s national conference to help inform the party’s policy direction for the next three years. Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sally McManus said it would become easier, faster and cheaper for workers to recover unpaid wages.

“Too many employers can drag out court cases and grind workers into the dust while making them wait to get a fair hearing,” she said. “Justice delayed is justice denied. If your boss owes you money, you should not have to wait one or even two years to get it back.”

McManus said the unions had been calling for a national employment court since the last one was abolished. “Today’s announcement recognises that workers’ rights matter and justice is not only there for companies that can afford law firms from the big end of town,” she said.

In a statement, the Albanese government said some workers and small businesses were spending more than two years fighting for resolutions that should be simple.

“The new federal Fair Work Court will provide a specialist forum for resolving workplace relations disputes that works seamlessly with the Fair Work Commission,” it said.

“Specialist judges with workplace relations expertise would sit on the court, with the aim of supporting faster, simpler and more accessible dispute resolution.”

Albanese told Labor MPs, rank-and-file members, business observers and unions that the move was “good for workers, good for business, good for the country” as he addressed the hundreds in the audience for the conference’s opening session.

Paired with a promise to expand $340 weekly payments to health work students on placements to earn a qualification – which the government unveiled earlier on Thursday – Albanese said Labor was seeking to deal with rising angst across the globe by helping people with the cost of living.

“I understand that, for many Australians right now, looking to the future runs second to the immediate pressures they are under. The last decade has inflicted one global shock after another, and people have been given every reason to feel like the economy is simply not working for them,” he said.

“That goes deeper than sentiment, it’s a reality people are up against. It is a challenge confronting governments and democracies right around the world.

“That is why our focus remains squarely on helping with the cost of living, on the practical measures that matter to people and make a positive difference to their lives.”

More to come

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