On 1 July 2009 the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia commenced exercising jurisdiction in relation to:
any civil matter arising under the Fair Work Act 2009
any civil matter arising under the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009
any matter arising under the Workplace Relations Act1996 that is pending before the Court as at 1 July 2009
any civil matter arising under the Workplace Relations Act as it continues to apply because of the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act2009- these will include any matters relating to conduct that took place prior to 1 July 2009.
Small claim procedures
Section 548 of the Fair Work Act 2009 makes provision for certain proceedings to be dealt with as small claims proceedings. An application may request that an application for compensation be dealt with under this Division if the compensation is not more than $20 000 and the compensation is for an entitlement mentioned in subsection 548(1A) of the Fair Work Act 2009. When dealing with a small claim application the Court is not bound by the rules of evidence but may inform itself of any matter in any manner as it thinks fit.
A party to a small claims application may not be represented by a lawyer without the leave of the Court.
Rules in relation to the conduct of proceedings in the Fair Work Division are found in Chapter 7 of the Federal Magistrates Court Rules 2001
