Zombie agreements extended past 7 December 2023

These ‘zombie agreements’ will terminate on the date specified in the relevant Commission decision. There is a list of these decisions at the bottom of this page.

The operation of these agreements may be further extended, on application.

You can apply to further extend a ‘zombie agreement’ that is still in operation if you are:

• an employer covered by the agreement
• an employee covered by the agreement, or
• an industrial association that is entitled to represent the industrial interests of one or more of the employees covered by the agreement.

If a ‘zombie agreement’ has been extended, you can apply for a further extension of the agreement before the end of the extended default period. 

You can make as many extension applications as you like, provided the ‘zombie agreement’ has not yet terminated. On application, the Commission can extend the agreement’s default period for a period of no more than 4 years. 

You must include a copy of the pre-2010 agreement with your extension application. 

 Your application should specify whether:

• bargaining is occurring for a new enterprise agreement, or
• the employee(s) would be better off overall if the pre-2010 agreement continued to apply than if the relevant modern award applied.

To apply for a further extension of the default period, use Form F81 – Application to extend the default period for a zombie agreement.

Generally, the Commission must extend the default period if:

• it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so, or
• it is otherwise appropriate in the circumstances to extend the default period and one of the following applies:
  • bargaining is occurring for a new enterprise agreement that would cover the employee or the group of employees covered by the ‘zombie agreement’ (or substantially the same group of employees), or
  • it is likely that the employee or employees would be better off overall if the ‘zombie agreement’ continued to apply to them than if the relevant modern award applied.

See item 20A of Schedule 3, item 26A of Schedule 3A and item 30 of Schedule 7 of the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009.

Download our List of pre-2010 agreements – extended or pending extension application (xlsx) for a list of pre-2010 agreements that have had their default period extended by the Commission or are subject to an application to extend the default period currently before the Commission. 

The table below lists all extension application decisions issued by the Commission.