The short answer
Unfair dismissal asks whether the sacking was fair. General protections asks a different question: why did they do it? If any of the reasons was that you asserted a workplace right, that you have a protected attribute, or that you were briefly off sick, the sacking is unlawful. It does not have to be the only reason. There is no minimum period of employment and no income cap, and once you say why it happened, your employer has to prove it was something else.
The reasons that make it unlawful
An employer must not take adverse action against you for any of these reasons:
- A workplace right. You have, used or proposed to use a right under a workplace law, award or agreement, or you made a complaint or inquiry about your employment. The courts have said a complaint must be genuine and about a right or entitlement you have, so not every grievance counts. Asking why your pay is short, asking for flexible hours, or asking to go permanent as a casual are all examples.
- A protected attribute. Race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, breastfeeding, gender identity, intersex status, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer's responsibilities, being subjected to family and domestic violence, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. There are limited exceptions, for example where the action is required by the inherent requirements of the job.
- A temporary absence for illness or injury. This one protects you from being dismissed only, not from other action such as cutting shifts. It covers absences where you gave a medical certificate or statutory declaration within 24 hours (or a reasonable longer time), or otherwise met the evidence rules. It stops applying once the absence runs past 3 months, or your absences total more than 3 months in a year, unless you are on paid sick leave the whole time.
It is not only sacking
"Adverse action" by an employer includes dismissing you, injuring you in your employment, changing your position to your detriment (cutting your hours or shifts, for example), or treating you differently from other employees. Threatening any of those counts too. This page is about dismissal, which has the 21-day deadline. Action short of dismissal goes through a different process, with different time limits.
Who has to prove what
This is the part that makes general protections claims different. If you allege your employer acted for an unlawful reason, the law presumes that was the reason unless the employer proves otherwise. In practice the employer has to give evidence, usually from the person who made the decision, about why they really did it.
You still need to show the basic facts: that you had the right or attribute, and that the adverse action happened.
How a claim works
- Apply to the Fair Work Commission within 21 days (Form F8 for dismissal disputes). The fee is $92.70 from 1 July 2026, and can be waived for serious financial hardship.
- The Commission holds a conference to try to resolve it.
- If it does not resolve, the Commission issues a certificate. You then have 14 days from the certificate to file in court, or both sides can agree to let the Commission arbitrate instead.
- In court, the remedies include compensation for your loss, reinstatement and penalties against the employer. The Act sets no cap on compensation in these cases.
Costs. In court, each side generally pays its own legal costs. You can be ordered to pay the other side's costs only if you started the case vexatiously or without reasonable cause, acted unreasonably, or unreasonably refused to take part in the Commission's process.
Pick one. You cannot bring both a general protections claim and an unfair dismissal claim for the same dismissal.
Free help
- Workplace Advice Service at the Fair Work Commission: up to an hour of free legal advice for eligible people without a lawyer or union.
- Your union, a community legal centre or Legal Aid.
From 20 October 2026, if you use generative AI (including Atuny) to prepare a Commission document, you must say so in the document and explain how, check every fact, case and law it refers to, and state that you have checked it.
Work for a state government or council? Even if you are outside the national system, the Commission's unlawful termination process (Form F9) may protect you from being sacked for a protected attribute, a temporary illness, union activity or a complaint against your employer. The deadline is also 21 days.
What the law says
- ss 340, 341 workplace rights, including complaints and inquiries about your employment
- s 342 what counts as adverse action
- s 351 protected attributes and exceptions
- s 352; Fair Work Regulations reg 3.01 temporary absence for illness or injury
- ss 360, 361 one of the reasons is enough; the presumption about the employer's reason
- s 772 unlawful termination, which also reaches employees outside the national system
- ss 366, 368 to 370 the 21-day deadline, the conference and certificate, 14 days to go to court
- ss 545, 570 court orders and costs
- s 725 no doubling up with other dismissal claims
Sections are of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Fair Work Regulations 2009. The fee is the Fair Work Commission's from 1 July 2026.
The law for matters like yours
This page is the law in general. Ask Atuny about the law for matters like yours in plain English and the short answer is free. It reads the Act, not a forum thread.
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Who this covers. This guide is about people in the national workplace system, which is most people working in the private sector in Australia. Depending on your state, if you work for a state government department or a council, or in Western Australia for a sole trader, partnership or some trusts, state laws may apply instead, although some federal protections, such as unlawful termination, still cover you. The Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) can tell you which system you are in.
This is general information about the law, not advice about your situation. It was checked against the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as compiled on 7 July 2026 and the Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman figures for 2026-27. Atuny is not a law firm.