We are currently consulting on ways to manage challenging conduct by paid agents.
On this page:
Background
A lawyer or paid agent can represent parties in cases before the Fair Work Commission. To do so, they must receive permission under section 596(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 and under the Fair Work Commission Rules 2013.
Paid agents are not lawyers, but they charge or receive a fee to represent a person.
Lawyers are regulated and paid agents are not. Lawyers are required to be registered and are subject to professional conduct rules and codes of ethics. Paid agents have no minimum requirements for conduct, experience or qualifications.
While many paid agents are competent professionals, sometimes Commission Members and staff see conduct that:
- may not be in the best interest of the paid agent’s client
- may not help us exercise our powers efficiently
- may otherwise be concerning.
At other times parties complain to the Commission about a paid agent’s conduct or practices.
We established the Paid Agents Working Group to consult on possible ways to manage challenging conduct by paid agents.
Paid Agents Working Group
The Paid Agents Working Group will identify and guide the implementation of ways we can make sure that all paid agents appearing before the Commission:
- conduct themselves in an ethical and honest manner
- act in the best interests of the people they represent, and
- generally operate in accordance with standards that are broadly consistent with what would be expected of a lawyer in the same circumstances.
The working group will consult with representatives who are regularly involved in individual dispute cases before the Commission, as well as with law societies, peak bodies, and other interested parties.
The consultation will be conducted transparently and with the needs of our users in mind.
Consultation on implementation of the recommendations 2 and 3
We are consulting further on the implementation of the recommendations from the report. In particular, the implementation of recommendations 2 and 3.
Recommendation 2 – Disclosure of costs arrangements at the commencement of conciliation processes.
Recommendation 3 – Enhancement of information about representation on the Commission’s website.
A public consultation will take place on 20 February 2025 in Melbourne. Commissioner Johns will invite feedback on draft fact sheets, checklists and information to be added to the Commission's website about paid agents. These will be made available on this webpage when ready. We will also notify registered attendees when the documents are available.
Attending the consultation
We invite interested parties to attend the in-person consultation. The consultation will take place on Thursday 20 February 2025 from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm (AEDT) in Melbourne in meeting room 5.9 on level 5.
If you cannot attend in person, you can request a Microsoft Teams link to attend online by contacting consultation@fwc.gov.au.
Completed consultation
The paid agents working group undertook a period of consultation on paid agents. The working group released the Paid Agents and the Fair Work Commission Options Paper (pdf) for consultation. Interested parties were invited to provide submissions. These submissions are published below. In-person consultations on the paper were conducted in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in early April 2024. The working group published a report and recommendations following the consultation. Justice Hatcher accepted the working group’s recommendations and published a statement. We invite you to read the report and President’s Statement:
- Report and recommendations: Paid agents and the Fair Work Commission (pdf).
- President's Statement: Paid agents and the Fair Work Commission – publication of Report and Recommendations (pdf).
Related information
Paid Agents Working Group established
Paid agents options paper and consultation schedule released