What happened
It was reported in August 2026 that the Fair Work Commission ordered a former Aldi worker to pay 1,230 dollars towards his former employer’s legal costs after he continued an unfair dismissal claim the Commission found he could not win.
The case turned on one date. He was notified of his dismissal three days before he reached the six month minimum employment period. That was the date that mattered under the Fair Work Act, not the later date when his dismissal took effect.
It was reported that his AI generated submissions kept focusing on the later date, even after the Commission had explained the problem and warned him that he could face costs. The Deputy President described the costs order as a very rare step and said his conduct had caused Aldi unnecessary legal costs. The worker later told ABC News that he had used a paid version of ChatGPT to help understand the cases Aldi and the Commission had cited.
What an auditable version would have shown
The Commission found the problem by reading what had been filed. Its decision records that the applicant’s AI generated material kept addressing the wrong date, including after the Commission had explained which date mattered.
A record attached to the filing could show that AI had been used and that the person filing it had checked the facts, authorities and argument before submitting it. That would make the verification visible rather than leaving the Commission to discover the problem when it read the material.
Where the gap was
The Commission’s response is now quite direct. From 20 October 2026, anyone using generative AI to prepare a document for a Commission case must disclose that use and explain how AI was used. They must also check that the document is correct and relevant. Witness statements and declarations have additional requirements.
A ConstraintGate is designed to check whether the required AI declaration is present before a document is filed. A CitationVerifier is designed to check whether an authority exists and supports what the document says. A ConductRecord keeps the declaration and the results of those checks.
None decides whether someone can use AI to prepare their case.
What governance should have looked like
The Commission does not say using generative AI is inherently improper. Its own guidance provides prompts to help people use it and says generative AI should not be used as a substitute for legal advice. It also requires people using it to take responsibility for checking what they file.
Where an institution accepts documents prepared with AI, best practice would be to make that checking visible. If AI helped prepare a document, the person filing it should disclose that use and confirm that the facts, authorities and argument were checked before filing.
Failure Pattern: it was reported that a self represented worker relied on AI generated material that repeatedly addressed the wrong date, even after the Commission explained which date mattered.
Governance Principle: where an institution accepts documents prepared with AI, it should be able to see that AI was used and that the person submitting the document has confirmed they checked it.
The reference implementation of ConstraintGate, CitationVerifier and ConductRecord is open source. It lives at github.com/saffronandindia/headlights-oss, Apache 2.0 licensed and free to install. The repository is public now.
Sources
- [2026] FWC 3144, the costs decision (Fair Work Commission, August 2026)
- AI and increased workload at the Commission (Fair Work Commission, 19 February 2026)
- President’s statement and draft guidance for use of generative AI published, the March 2026 exposure draft rather than the final requirements (Fair Work Commission)
- Fair Work Commission condemns plain wrong AI legal advice as cases with AI litigants surge (ABC News, 29 August 2026)
- Worker who used AI in hopeless claim ordered to pay employer’s legal costs (Human Resources Director, 20 August 2026)
- Report carrying the lodgement figures and the Commission’s account of the pressures on its workload (The Next Web, 29 May 2026)