From 20 October, the Fair Work Commission wants to know if AI helped write your case, and that you checked its homework
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
The Fair Work Commission's guidance note on generative AI applies from 20 October 2026. Use AI on your case documents and you have to say so and check them.
The short version
- The Fair Work Commission's guidance note on using generative AI in Commission cases applies from 20 October 2026.
- It applies to every party, employers included: say when and how you used AI, check the document is correct, and keep witness statements your own.
- If your business could ever respond to a Fair Work claim, make sure whoever prepares it knows the rules now.
AI has made it much easier to write a long, confident document about a workplace dispute. The Fair Work Commission has noticed, and from 20 October it wants to know who did the writing.
What are the Fair Work Commission's new AI rules?
The Fair Work Commission's new rules are a guidance note setting out what you must do if you use generative AI, such as ChatGPT or Copilot, to prepare documents for a Commission case. The Commission published it on 24 August 2026 and it applies from 20 October 2026.
It sets three requirements. You must tell the Commission when and how you used AI. You must check that the document is correct and relevant to the case. And if the document is a witness statement or declaration, you must check that it's based on your own knowledge, reflects your own words and is true to the best of your knowledge.
Who does it apply to?
The guidance note applies to anyone with a case at the Commission who uses AI to prepare documents, so an employer responding to a claim is covered as much as the employee making it.
The Commission says its application and response forms will be updated by 20 October to help, and it has published a 'Using AI to help you with your case' page and video.
What should your business do about it?
Businesses should make sure whoever handles workplace disputes, whether that's the owner, an HR manager or an outside adviser, knows the AI rules before the next Fair Work matter lands.
My take: this is fair. AI is good at making a response sound thorough, and much less good at knowing what happened on the night shift. Use it to sort the timeline and tidy the wording, then check every date, name and amount against your records, and keep witness statements in the witness's own words. The Commission only wants honesty about who wrote what, which is more than most group assignments ever got.
Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.