Fair Work Commission

Introduction

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, agreements continue to operate after their nominal expiry date until they are replaced or terminated by application to the Fair Work Commission. Through provisions in the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009, agreements made under previous legislation continue to have effect as agreement-based transitional instruments.

The Fair Work Commission has the power to terminate the following types of national system agreements:

• enterprise agreements made from 1 July 2009
• collective agreements made before 1 July 2009 (also known as agreement-based transitional instruments)
• individual agreements – Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) and Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs).

This page deals with the first two types of agreements. For information about terminating AWAs and ITEAs, go to Terminating individual agreements.

Termination by agreement before nominal expiry date

Employers and their employees may agree to terminate an enterprise agreement or an agreement-based transitional instrument. An employer may request that the employees endorse the termination by voting for it.

The termination of an agreement has no effect unless it is approved by the Commission.

How to apply

If a termination of an agreement has been agreed to, a person covered by the agreement must apply to the Commission for approval of the termination using Form F24 for an enterprise agreement or Form F28 for an agreement-based transitional instrument, which can be found on our Forms page.

The application must be accompanied by any declarations that are required by the Fair Work Commission Rules 2013 to accompany the application.

It must be made:

• within 14 days of the termination being agreed to, or
• within such further period as the Commission allows.

The termination operates from the day specified in the Commission's decision to approve the termination.

Termination after nominal expiry date

If an enterprise agreement or agreement-based transitional instrument has passed its nominal expiry date, any of the parties to the agreement may apply to the Commission for the termination of the agreement.

If an application for the termination of an agreement is made, the Commission must terminate the agreement if:

• satisfied that it is not contrary to the public interest to do so, and
• the Commission considers it appropriate to terminate the agreement.

How to apply

A person covered by the agreement must apply to the Commission for approval of the termination using Form F24B for an enterprise agreement or Form F28 for an agreement-based transitional instrument.

The application must be accompanied by any declarations that are required by the Fair Work Commission Rules to accompany the application.

The termination operates from the day specified in the Commission's decision to terminate the agreement.