When is a general protections dismissal application due?

A section 365 general protections dismissal application must be made within 21 calendar days after the alleged dismissal took effect. Section 366(2) permits further time for exceptional circumstances. Non-dismissal disputes have a different route.

Responsible actor. Person alleging dismissal in contravention of Part 3-1, or qualifying industrial association.

Identify the effective date of the alleged dismissal. An earlier workplace complaint or the later receipt of advice is not the section 366 trigger.

Section 365 concerns dismissal disputes. Section 372 concerns a person alleging a Part 3-1 contravention who is not entitled to use section 365.

The initial Commission application is distinct from later steps after a certificate. Do not use the 21-day initial deadline as a later court or arbitration deadline.

Use this tool for an alleged dismissal in contravention of Part 3-1. The applicant may be the person or an industrial association entitled to represent that person. The tool does not decide adverse action, prohibited reasons or jurisdiction.

1. Establish day the alleged dismissal took effect.
2. Confirm the applicable procedure, the place concerned and any inconsistent direction.
3. Exclude the event day and count 21 calendar days.
4. Check the final day against the established place, including consecutive closures.
5. Complete the required lodgment and separate service steps; preserve their evidence.

Exclude the established trigger day. Count every following calendar day, including intermediate weekends and holidays. The period is not a count of business days.

If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, public holiday or bank holiday in the place concerned, section 36 carries it to the first following day that is none of those days. Establish the place concerned. State calendars do not establish every local or conditional holiday. Unconfirmed places, conditional dates and unsupported years require review.

Fictitious example

Fictitious established event. Day the alleged dismissal took effect is Monday, October 12, 2026. One established place concerned in Sydney, New South Wales, with local holidays confirmed and no contrary direction.

Fictitious established facts and confirmed place assumptions. These dates do not establish eligibility, effective dismissal or service, valid lodgment, an extension or a Commission direction.

Exceptional-circumstances extension

Section 366(2) requires exceptional circumstances and consideration of delay, action disputing dismissal, prejudice, merits and fairness. Do not import the separate unfair-dismissal factor concerning later awareness as an express section 366 factor.

Non-dismissal adverse action

Section 366 applies to section 365 applications. This calculator does not impose that dismissal clock on a section 372 non-dismissal dispute.

Application and acknowledgment

Use an accepted channel and preserve its confirmation and acknowledgment. A later acknowledgment may affect proof of lodgment under the particular channel rules.

• Use this tool for an alleged dismissal in contravention of Part 3-1. The applicant may be the person or an industrial association entitled to represent that person. The tool does not decide adverse action, prohibited reasons or jurisdiction.
• The section 365 application, a section 372 non-dismissal dispute, a respondent response and post-certificate arbitration are separate acts. This page answers only the initial dismissal application deadline.

• Establish the alleged dismissal and the effective date.
• Check that section 365, rather than section 372 or another dismissal remedy, is the intended route.
• Use the approved general protections dismissal form and check its current instructions.
• Preserve the accepted submission, acknowledgment and the facts supporting any extension request.
• Check local legal time, the permitted filing channel and every Commission direction. Rule 15 permits physical delivery between 9 am and 5 pm on a business day. Email must comply with rule 16. A commencing email application requires acknowledgment, with lodgment then attributed to electronic receipt. Commencing applications through rule 17 facilities also require acknowledgment. Under MyFWC rule 17A, submission is timed by the confirmation email and a commencing application also needs acknowledgment of lodgment. Preserve the applicable receipt; a saved draft or posted envelope is not proof of timely lodgment.