Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new federal Fair Work Court to speed up workplace disputes and cut their cost, in his opening speech to Labor's national conference in Adelaide on Thursday.

The court would work alongside the Fair Work Commission and be staffed by judges with workplace-relations expertise, hearing claims over underpayment and other disputes. The government said it would consult on the court's design through the rest of 2026 and set no start date. The announcement was issued jointly by Albanese, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.

Workers chasing unpaid wages can already take claims to the Fair Work Commission and the federal courts. The government's case is that a dedicated court would clear those matters faster and for less money, in a system where a claim for a few thousand dollars can take years and cost more than it recovers.

“Australians who have been underpaid hundreds, even thousands, of dollars shouldn't have to wait years for justice, or be told their case will cost more than their claim," Albanese said. "That's why Labor will fix it, with the Fair Work Court to resolve disputes faster and at lower cost, benefiting employees and employers alike.”

Rishworth said the court "will make a significant difference to help workers receive the entitlements and pay they worked hard for." Rowland said it "will create a streamlined dispute resolution pathway, drawing on the expertise of specialist judges."

The Australian Associated Press reported it would be the first dedicated federal industrial court since a predecessor was abolished under the Howard government in the 1990s. Wage underpayment runs across the economy, from small operators to large franchises and listed employers, and enforcement has long been the weak point: the law on what a worker is owed is clearer than the path to actually recovering it.

For now it is a pledge made at the party's own conference, with the design still to be worked out and no date for when the first case might be heard. The test is not the announcement. It is whether a new court clears the backlog of people owed money for work they have already done, or adds another forum to a queue that is already too long.