Perth, Nov 4: Artificial intelligence is changing how Australians take on their employers, but new figures suggest it has done little so far to change how many jobs businesses are trying to fill.
From Oct 20, anyone lodging documents with the Fair Work Commission must disclose whether they used generative AI to prepare them and confirm they have reviewed the material for accuracy and relevance.
The new requirement follows a 70 per cent increase in the Commission’s overall workload over the past three years. The rise has been largely attributed to the spread of AI tools in unfair dismissal and general protections applications.
The Commission has made clear that using AI to help with drafting is not unreasonable in itself. But it says parties remain responsible for assessing the accuracy, relevance and legal basis of everything they submit.
Costly lesson
The risks of relying on AI were highlighted in a recent case involving a former ALDI employee, who was ordered to pay $1,230 towards the supermarket’s legal costs.
He had continued with an unfair dismissal claim despite being warned twice that it was unlikely to succeed.
The Commission found he had been notified of his dismissal three days before completing the six-month minimum employment period, which meant he was not eligible for protection from unfair dismissal.
The case shows how easily a claim can be lodged with an AI tool, and how costly it can be when no one checks whether it has a legal basis.
Limited impact on vacancies
While AI is putting pressure on the workplace tribunal, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says it has had a limited impact on hiring so far.
The ABS has added new questions to its quarterly Job Vacancies Survey to measure the relationship between AI and job vacancies, in response to public and policy interest in the technology’s effect on the labour market.
“About 82 per cent of businesses reported that AI did not impact the level of job vacancies in August 2026,” said Sean Crick, the ABS head of labour statistics.
“Four per cent of businesses reported that AI had reduced the number of job vacancies in August, while less than one per cent reported that AI had led to an increase in vacancies in their business.”
Media and telecommunications hit hardest
The impact differed sharply between industries.
“Information media and telecommunications had the highest proportion of businesses reporting a decrease in vacancies due to AI at 16 per cent,” Crick said.
“This was followed by wholesale trade, at eight per cent, and manufacturing, at six per cent.”
Some industries reported the opposite effect. Electricity, gas, water and waste services had the highest share of businesses reporting more vacancies because of AI, at 10 per cent. Public administration and safety followed at four per cent, then health care and social assistance at two per cent.
Little change expected in the year ahead
Businesses were also asked how they expect AI to affect their vacancies over the next 12 months.
“About two thirds of businesses said that they did not expect AI to impact their job vacancies over the next 12 months,” Crick said.
“About eight per cent of businesses expected that AI will lead to a decrease in job vacancies and one per cent expected it would lead to an increase.”
Taken together, the figures suggest that for now AI is changing how Australians dispute their jobs faster than it is changing the number of jobs on offer.
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