Redundancy in Australia

If your job is no longer needed and you have at least 12 months’ continuous service, you get redundancy pay at your base rate for ordinary hours:

• 1 to 2 years: 4 weeks · 2 to 3: 6 · 3 to 4: 7 · 4 to 5: 8 · 5 to 6: 10
• 6 to 7 years: 11 weeks · 7 to 8: 13 · 8 to 9: 14 · 9 to 10: 16 · 10+: 12 (long service leave usually applies from here)
• Exempt: employers with fewer than 15 employees (counting associated entities and regular casuals), plus casuals, apprentices, fixed-term workers and people dismissed for serious misconduct. Your award or agreement may give more.

NES notice (or pay in lieu) is 1 week for up to 1 year, 2 weeks for 1 to 3 years, 3 weeks for 3 to 5 years and 4 weeks after that, plus 1 extra week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years’ service. Pay in lieu must include penalty rates, allowances and loadings you would have earned.

Most awards and enterprise agreements require your employer to consult before a redundancy is final and to consider redeploying you. A redundancy isn’t "genuine" if redeployment within the business was reasonable.

A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service (2026–27), as long as you are under Age Pension age (67). The tax-free part can include pay in lieu of notice, but not unused leave.

Anything above that is an employment termination payment (ETP), taxed at up to 32% if you are under 60 or 17% if you are 60 or over, up to the ETP cap of $270,000. Unused annual leave paid out on genuine redundancy is taxed at no more than 32%.

JobSeeker is $824.90 a fortnight for a single person with no children (from 20 September 2026). It is income- and asset-tested, and redundancy money can delay it:

• Liquid assets waiting period: if your savings are over $5,500 (single) or $11,000 (partnered or with children), you wait 1 week per $500 (or $1,000) over, up to 13 weeks.
• Income maintenance period: redundancy and leave payouts, including pay in lieu of notice, count as income for the weeks they represent. It runs at the same time as the liquid assets waiting period.
• Waivers are possible if you are in severe financial hardship.

You have just 21 days after the dismissal takes effect to lodge an unfair dismissal or general protections claim with the Fair Work Commission. Extensions are rare. You need 6 months’ service (12 at a small business) and either earn under $190,100 or be covered by an award or agreement.

A genuine redundancy is a defence to unfair dismissal, but only if the job really went, the employer consulted as required, and redeployment wasn’t reasonable.

You generally can’t access super because of redundancy. Check your fund’s insurance: cover inside super can be cancelled if no contributions are made for 16 months, unless you tell the fund you want to keep it.