Fair Work regulatory priorities for 2023-24

During 2023-24, Fair Work has announced it will will prioritise underpayments and workplace protections in a number of sectors.

The regulator will prioritise underpayments and workplace protections in the following sectors:

• agriculture
• building and construction
• care
• fast food, restaurants and cafés
• large corporates and universities.

Fair Work will continue to focus on matters that:

• are of significant public interest
• demonstrate a blatant disregard for the law
• are of significant scale, impact on workers or the community, or
• can provide guidance on the application of the law.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s purpose is to promote harmonious, productive, cooperative and compliant workplace relations in Australia. Their functions include:

• providing education, advice and assistance
• promoting and monitoring compliance with workplace laws
• investigating breaches of the law
• taking appropriate enforcement action.

They perform these functions in a variety of ways, including:

• undertaking targeted proactive compliance and education work
• responding to requests for assistance, emerging issues reported through the media (or other external sources) and self-reported non-compliance
• implementing new funding measures.

There is an element of discretion in how the regulator allocates resources to undertake proactive and responsive activities. The annual regulatory priorities provide a framework through which they will prioritise resource allocation.