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HR Glossary

General protections

Australia · Fair Work and entitlements
What are general protections?

General protections are the provisions of the Fair Work Act (Australia) that make it unlawful to take adverse action against a person because they have, use or propose to use a workplace right, or because of attributes such as union membership or a protected personal characteristic.

What counts as adverse action?

Dismissal is the obvious one, but adverse action also covers demotion, cutting hours, altering a role to the employee's disadvantage, discrimination between employees, and refusing to hire. The protection extends to prospective employees, which is why general protections claims can arise from recruitment decisions, not just terminations.

What is a workplace right?

Broader than most managers assume: making a complaint or inquiry about employment, taking personal leave, requesting flexible work, asking about pay, participating in a Commission process, or having the benefit of an award or agreement. The claim structure is "adverse action because of the right", and the word doing the work is *because*.

Why do employers treat these claims so seriously?

Two structural features. The onus reverses: once adverse action and a workplace right are shown, the employer must prove the action was not taken for the prohibited reason, which makes contemporaneous documentation of the real reason decisive. And unlike unfair dismissal, compensation is uncapped, with no minimum service requirement. A first-week employee who is dismissed after raising a safety complaint has no unfair dismissal claim and a perfectly viable general protections one.

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Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal is a dismissal that Australia's Fair Work Commission finds harsh, unjust or unreasonable, where the employee was eligible to claim and the dismissal was not a genuine redundancy.

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Psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work design, management or workplace interactions that can cause psychological harm, such as excessive job demands, low support or bullying.

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Probation period

A probation period is a contractual trial period at the start of employment, commonly three to six months, used to assess whether a new hire suits the role.

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Common questions

How is a general protections claim different from unfair dismissal?

Unfair dismissal tests the fairness of a dismissal after six months' service, with capped compensation. General protections test the *reason* for any adverse action, from day one, with a reverse onus and no cap. Dismissal-related claims share the 21-day window.

What is the best protection for an employer?

Real reasons, recorded at the time. Decision-makers who can evidence a lawful reason, made independently of any complaint or right, are the whole defence.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au) or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.