Government launches inquiry into the National Employment Standards
On 28 November 2025, the Albanese Government announced that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations, Skills and Training has launched an inquiry into the operation and adequacy of the National Employment Standards (NES).[1]
This will be the first review of the NES since the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) was introduced (although certain provisions of the NES have been reviewed including flexible working arrangements, casual employment, parental leave and family/domestic violence leave).
The National Employment Standards
The NES sets out the minimum employment entitlements that must be provided to all national system employees under the FW Act and includes:
- maximum weekly hours;
- annual leave;
- long service leave;
- notice of termination and redundancy pay;
- parental leave and related entitlements;
- casual employment;
- public holidays;
- superannuation contributions;
- request for flexible working arrangements;
- community service leave;
- personal/carer's leave, compassionate leave and paid family and domestic violence leave; and
- providing employees the Fair Work Information Statement and Casual Employment Information Statement, as applicable.
The inquiry
The purpose of the inquiry is to consider whether the NES continues to meet the needs of workers, employers and the broader economy. In particular, the inquiry will focus on (among other things):[2]
- the extent to which the NES is fit for purpose, with regard to the changing nature of work;
- the efficacy of the NES in achieving the object of the FW Act which, in short, is to provide a balanced framework for cooperative and productive workplace relations that promote national economic prosperity and social inclusion for all Australians;
- the adequacy, relevance and coherence of existing NES entitlements, including improvements to their technical and operational functioning;
- the interaction between the NES and other workplace instruments, including modern awards, enterprise agreements, and individual flexibility arrangement;
- the types of workers covered by the NES, considering how the NES is experienced differently by certain groups in the community, including experiences of women, workers over 55, young workers, First Nations workers and workers with disabilities;
- whether there are any gaps in data information about any of these matters and what action is required to address these.
Casual employment, parental leave, flexible working arrangements and family and domestic violence will not form the focus of the inquiry as these areas have recently been reviewed. However, they will still be considered as part of the broader context of the review.
The changes to the NES could be significant, as:[3]
- The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association has been lobbying to increase annual leave under the NES from 20 days to 25 days.
- The Australian Council of Trade Unions has proposed changes to redundancies, including, concerns around artificial intelligence increasing job losses, removing exemptions such as the small business exemptions from the current redundancy rules and increasing redundancy pay after 10 years (currently it drops from 16 to 12 weeks after 10 years of continuous service).
What does this mean for Australian employers?
Subject to the outcome of the inquiry, substantial reforms to the NES could reshape the landscape of employment laws.
As the NES sets the minimum entitlements for all employee, any expansion of the NES will increase the baseline obligations that employers must provide. This is likely to lead to broader compliance requirements, adjustments to workplace policies and impact overall business operations.
The Committee is inviting written submissions by Friday, 27 February 2026.
Please contact us if you require assistance with preparing and submitting submissions or exploring the potential impact of these reforms.
This article was written with the assistance of Nat Laffer-Liebson, Law Graduate.
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