Memo · Anti-Discrimination & Industrial Relations
General protections (dismissal) claim assessment memo
Internal memo template that tests a general protections dismissal claim: time limits, forum and election, the protected right or attribute, adverse action, the reverse onus on reasons, exceptions, remedies and next steps.
- Kind
- Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the 8 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when advising an employee or employer about a dismissal alleged to be because of a workplace right, industrial activity or protected attribute. For non-dismissal disputes the time limits and FWC process differ (s 372); adapt before use.
How AI may be used
This is lawyer-led. AI may build the chronology and test dates against the 21-day limit, but deciding the protected right, the decision-maker's reasons and prospects is a judgment for the lawyer.
AI may
- Build a dated chronology from the termination letter, messages and records, with a source for each entry and conflicting dates flagged.
- Calculate the 21-day deadline from the date the dismissal took effect, showing the working.
- List the documents that show what the decision-maker knew and when.
AI must not
- Must not assess the decision-maker's credibility or real reasons.
- Must not give a prospects estimate or remedy range.
- Must not be used to draft a witness's statement or the client's account of events.
The lawyer checks
- The date the dismissal took effect, and the 21-day deadline, are confirmed from documents.
- The client has been advised about election between unfair dismissal and general protections (Part 6-1).
- Every authority cited has been read and is current.
- Any document to be lodged complies with the FWC generative AI Guidance Note from 20 October 2026.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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