Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

Administered by Attorney-General's Department

Legislation au F2009L02474 Regulations Not in force Legislative Instrument

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EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 128

 

Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General

 

Federal Magistrates Act 1999

Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

 

Federal Court of Australia Act 1976

Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

 

The Federal Magistrates Act 1999 (the Federal Magistrates Act) and the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (the Federal Court Act) establish the Federal Magistrates Court (the FMC) and the Federal Court of Australia (the Federal Court) respectively as federal courts under Chapter III of the Constitution.

Subsection 120(1) of the Federal Magistrates Act and subsection 60(1) of the Federal Court Act provide that the Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by those Acts to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to those Acts.  In particular, subsection 120(3) of the Federal Magistrates Act and subsection 60(1) of the Federal Court Act provide for the prescribing of fees to be paid in respect of proceedings in the FMC and Federal Court respectively.

A reduced court fee structure previously applied to unlawful termination court applications under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the WR Act) and was prescribed under the Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 and the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000.  The current fee for an application and claim for unlawful termination is $57.30.  This fee is adjusted annually in accordance with an indexation factor based on the CPI.

The purpose of the Regulations is to specify which court applications to the FMC and the Federal Court under the new Fair Work Act 2009 (the FW Act) framework will attract a reduced court application fee, which from 1 July 2009 will be $59.50.  This fee has been prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

Under the new FW Act framework, the WR Act protections relating to unlawful termination and freedom of association for national system employers and employees, have been consolidated and streamlined into the General protections in Part 3-1 of the FW Act. In addition, special provision is now made for unlawful termination protection for non-national system employees in section 772 of the FW Act.

To take account of the new FW Act framework, the Regulations will provide for the following court applications to be subject to a reduced fee:

  • all applications to the Federal Court or the FMC under section 539 of the FW Act where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of Part 3-1 of the FW Act which contains the General protections;
  • all applications to the Federal Court or FMC under section 539 of the FW Act where the person is alleging a breach of section 351 of the FW Act (i.e. adverse action for a discriminatory reason);
  • all applications to the Federal Court or FMC under section 539 of the FW Act where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of section 772 (i.e. unlawful termination protection for non-national system employees).

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Acts specify no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

The Regulations are legislative instruments for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

The Regulations commence on 1 July 2009, to coincide with the commencement of Part 3‑1 and Division 2 of Part 6‑4 of the FW Act.

Consultations regarding these legislative instruments were held with the Federal Court.  This level of consultation is appropriate and sufficient, as these amendments are of a minor or machinery nature only and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.

 

 

Authority:  Subsection 60(1) of the

 Federal Court of Australia Act 1976

Subsection 120(1) of the

Federal Magistrates Act 1999


ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

Regulation 2 – Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on 1 July 2009.

Regulation 3 – Amendment of Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004

This regulation provides that the Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 (the Federal Court Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 – Amendment

Item [1] – Schedule 1, item 3

Item 3 in Schedule 1 to the Federal Court Regulations will be substituted with a new item 3.  The new item sets out which applications to the Federal Court will be subject to the reduced application fee prescribed for subsection 395(2) of the FW Act.  All applications to the Federal Court under section 539 of the FW Act, where an applicant has been dismissed from employment in an alleged contravention of Part 3-1 of the Act, or the applicant alleges a breach of section 351 of the Act, will be subject to the reduced fee prescribed.

A new item 3A will also be inserted after item 3 in Schedule 1.  This new item specifies that applications to the Federal Court under section 539 of the FW Act, where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of section 772 of the FW Act, will also be subject to the reduced application fee prescribed for subsection 395(2) of the FW Act.


Details of the Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 – Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on 1 July 2009.

Regulation 3 – Amendment of Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000

This regulation provides that the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000 (the Federal Magistrates Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 – Amendment

Item [1] – Schedule 1, item 12

Item 12 in Schedule 1 to the Federal Magistrates Regulations will be substituted with a new item 12.  The new item sets out which applications to the FMC will be subject to the reduced application fee prescribed for subsection 395(2) of the FW Act.  All applications to the FMC under section 539 of the FW Act, where an applicant has been dismissed from employment in an alleged contravention of Part 3‑1 of the Act, or the applicant alleges a breach of section 351 of the FW Act, will be subject to the reduced fee prescribed.

A new item 13 will also be inserted after item 12 in Schedule 1.  This new item specifies that applications to the FMC under section 539 of the Act, where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of section 772 of the FW Act, will also be subject to the reduced application fee prescribed for subsection 395(2) of the FW Act.

 

Overview

The Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) and the Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) were enacted to address the need for updated fee structures for certain court applications under the new Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) framework. These regulations were introduced to ensure that the fees associated with specific court applications under the Fair Work Act are aligned with the prescribed reduced fee of $59.50, effective from 1 July 2009. The Fair Work Act consolidates and streamlines protections for national system employers and employees, and also provides special provisions for unlawful termination protection for non-national system employees. These regulations amend the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000 and the Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 respectively, to reflect the new fee structure for relevant court applications. The policy objective is to facilitate easier access to justice for individuals seeking redress under the Fair Work Act by reducing the financial burden of court application fees.

Scope and Application

The Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) and the Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) are legislative instruments that amend the existing Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 and the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000, respectively. They are made under the authority provided by subsection 60(1) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and subsection 120(1) of the Federal Magistrates Act 1999, which empower the Governor-General to make regulations necessary for carrying out or giving effect to these Acts. The purpose of these Regulations is to update the court fee structure in response to the implementation of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) framework, which consolidates and streamlines protections against unlawful termination and freedom of association into the General protections under Part 3-1 of the FW Act. The Regulations specify that certain court applications under the FW Act will attract a reduced fee, effective from 1 July 2009. Specifically, these Regulations apply to all applications to the Federal Court or the Federal Magistrates Court (FMC) under section 539 of the FW Act, where an applicant has been dismissed in alleged contravention of Part 3-1 of the Act (General protections), or the applicant alleges a breach of section 351 of the FW Act (adverse action for a discriminatory reason), or a dismissal in contravention of section 772 (unlawful termination protection for non-national system employees). These Regulations extend the application of the reduced fee to align with the new legislative framework established by the FW Act. There are no exclusions or thresholds specified in the Regulations themselves, but they do specify which applications are subject to the reduced fee as per the Fair Work Regulations 2009.

Key Provisions

The Federal Magistrates Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) and the Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) make specific amendments to the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000 and the Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 respectively. These regulations establish a reduced court fee structure for certain court applications under the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), which came into effect on 1 July 2009. The primary objective of these amendments is to align the fee structure with the new framework established by the FW Act, replacing the previous fee structure under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. The reduced fee for court applications under the new FW Act framework is set at $59.50, as prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009. This fee is subject to annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Under these regulations, specific types of court applications to both the Federal Magistrates Court (FMC) and the Federal Court of Australia are eligible for the reduced fee. These include applications made under section 539 of the FW Act where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of Part 3-1 of the FW Act (which contains the General protections), applications alleging a breach of section 351 of the FW Act (adverse action for a discriminatory reason), and applications where a person has been dismissed from employment in alleged contravention of section 772 of the FW Act (unlawful termination protection for non-national system employees). These provisions are detailed in Schedule 1 of both sets of regulations, which replace previous items in the Federal Court Regulations 2004 and the Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000 to reflect the new fee structure. The obligations imposed by these regulations on the parties or entities they govern are primarily procedural. Legal practitioners and their clients must ensure that the relevant criteria are met for their application to qualify for the reduced fee. This includes correctly identifying the grounds of the application under the specified sections of the FW Act and ensuring that the application is submitted to the appropriate court—either the FMC or the Federal Court—within the prescribed timeframes. Additionally, the regulations require that the reduced fee of $59.50 be paid upon submission of the application, with adjustments for inflation to be made annually. Failure to comply with these regulations, particularly in terms of paying the correct fee or submitting an application that does not meet the criteria for the reduced fee, could result in the application being processed under the standard fee structure. While the regulations themselves do not outline specific criminal or civil penalties for non-compliance, the underlying acts and any related court decisions could impose consequences on the parties involved. For instance, the Federal Court or the FMC may dismiss an application that does not comply with the fee requirements or that is submitted without meeting the eligibility criteria, potentially leading to significant legal and financial repercussions for the applicant.

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Area of Law
Employment & Labour Law
Instrument
Regulation
Concepts
Reporting & Disclosure Obligations
Regulatory Standards
Fees

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.