An overview of legal procedure & case law
The application fee is also often referred to as a filing fee.
An unfair dismissal application must be accompanied by payment of the prescribed fee (or an application to waive the prescribed fee)[1].
While the word ‘accompanied’ can be defined as ‘at the same time as’, it can also mean to complement or be in addition to something, or to go along with. In Bonnar v Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board the Fair Work Commission considered that in the context of s.395, ‘accompanied’ should be interpreted to mean that the fee is ‘to complement’ the application or be made ‘in addition to’ the application. It does not require that the fee be paid at precisely the same time as the application.[2]
Applications that are not accompanied by the fee or a waiver may be discontinued or cancelled by the Commission.[3]
The current fee can be found on the Lodge an application page of the Commission’s website.
[1] Fair Work Act 2009 s.395(1)
[2] Bonnar v Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board [2018] FWC 2151 (Dean DP, 24 April 2018) at para. 36.
[3] Druett v State Rail Authority of NSW & Ors [2007] AIRC 805 (Lawler VP, 19 September 2007); see also Atanaskovic Hartnell Corporate Services Pty Ltd t/a Atanaskovis Hartnell v Kelly [2017] FWCFB 763 (Hatcher VP, Sams DP, Hunt C, 15 February 2017).