Who can claim
You can usually claim FEG if all of these are true:
- Your employer is in liquidation or bankrupt (the "insolvency event"). Voluntary administration or receivership on its own is not enough.
- Your job ended because of the insolvency, within 6 months before the liquidator or trustee was appointed, or after that appointment.
- You are owed one of the covered entitlements and have taken reasonable steps to be paid, which normally means lodging your details with the liquidator.
- When your job ended you were an Australian citizen, or the holder of a permanent visa or special category visa.
You can't claim if you were one of the following:
- Contractors (except certain textile, clothing and footwear outworkers).
- Excluded employees under the Corporations Act, such as directors and their relatives.
- People converted from contractor to employee within 6 months of the insolvency.
What FEG covers, and the limits
| Entitlement | FEG limit |
|---|---|
| Unpaid wages | Up to 13 weeks |
| Annual leave | All of it owed |
| Long service leave | All of it owed |
| Payment in lieu of notice | Up to 5 weeks |
| Redundancy pay | Up to 4 weeks per full year of service |
| Superannuation | Not covered |
On top of those limits, every amount is worked out at a wage rate no higher than the maximum weekly wage: $3,032 for 2026–27 (it was $2,921 in 2025–26, and it is indexed each financial year). If you earned more than that, FEG pays as though you earned the cap.
Redundancy is paid at what your award, agreement, contract or the NES actually gave you, then capped at 4 weeks per year. For most people on the NES scale the weeks cap never bites (the NES tops out at 16 weeks); it matters for generous contract or enterprise-agreement redundancy schemes. FEG also leaves out bonuses, reimbursements and irregular commissions.
Worked example 1: under the wage cap
A 50-year-old on $1,800 a week with 9 years' service is owed 3 weeks of wages, 5 weeks' notice, 16 weeks' NES redundancy and 4 weeks of annual leave.
| Item | Owed | FEG pays |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid wages | $5,400 | $5,400 |
| Pay in lieu of notice | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Redundancy pay | $28,800 | $28,800 |
| Unused annual leave | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Total | $50,400 | $50,400 |
Pay is under the cap and every item is inside its limit, so FEG covers the lot.
Worked example 2: above the wage cap
A 52-year-old manager on $3,600 a week with 12 years' service is owed 2 weeks of wages, 5 weeks' notice, 12 weeks' NES redundancy and 6 weeks of annual leave. FEG works it all out at $3,032 a week instead of $3,600.
| Item | Owed | FEG pays |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid wages | $7,200 | $6,064 |
| Pay in lieu of notice | $18,000 | $15,160 |
| Redundancy pay | $43,200 | $36,384 |
| Unused annual leave | $21,600 | $18,192 |
| Total | $90,000 | $75,800 |
The $14,200 gap doesn't disappear: you can still claim it from the liquidator as a creditor. How much comes back depends on what is left in the company.
How to claim
- Give the liquidator or bankruptcy trustee your details and what you are owed. They verify it from the employer's records.
- Lodge a FEG claim online (FEG Online Services) or with the claim form. The FEG hotline is 1300 135 040.
- Claim within 12 months after the later of the insolvency event or the end of your employment. If your employer is a bankrupt individual, also claim before they are discharged.
What about my unpaid super?
FEG doesn't cover it. The liquidator must report unpaid super to the ATO through a super guarantee charge statement, and in the winding up that charge ranks equally with employees' wages. You can also report unpaid super to the ATO yourself, and check your super fund's records in myGov to see which contributions are missing.
Frequently asked questions
My employer went into voluntary administration. Can I claim FEG?
Not yet. FEG needs an insolvency event: a liquidator appointed, or the employer becoming bankrupt. Voluntary administration alone is not one. If the business later goes into liquidation, you can claim then, as long as your job ended within the time the rules allow.
Does FEG pay my unpaid super?
No. FEG does not cover superannuation. The liquidator has to report unpaid super to the ATO, which pursues it through the super guarantee charge. That debt ranks equally with wages in the winding up.
I worked for a small business. Do I still get redundancy pay through FEG?
Possibly. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are usually exempt from NES redundancy pay, but since 15 December 2023 that exemption does not apply where the business shrank below 15 because of redundancies made while it was bankrupt or in liquidation. FEG pays the redundancy you were actually entitled to, so this matters.
I am on a temporary visa. Am I eligible?
No. When your employment ended you must have been an Australian citizen, a permanent visa holder or a special category visa holder (New Zealand citizens in Australia). Temporary visa holders can still claim against the liquidator as a creditor.
How long does a FEG claim take?
The department aims to decide claims in an average of 14 weeks, and pays within a couple of business days of a decision. It can take longer if the liquidator is slow to provide employee records.
Is FEG money taxed?
Yes. The department withholds tax: wages and leave at 32%, and notice and redundancy treated as a genuine redundancy payment (tax-free up to the $13,598 + $6,801-per-year limit) if you are under age-pension age. Without a TFN, withholding is 47%.
Related
- Redundancy payout calculator — your full entitlement before any FEG cap
- Small business redundancy — the liquidation exception
- Super on redundancy and final pay
- Notice periods and pay in lieu
Sources
Figures on this page come from the following primary sources. The date is when we last checked the page against the source.
- Making a FEG claim (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations), checked 5 October 2026.
- FEG claim assessment (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations), checked 5 October 2026.
- Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 (Federal Register of Legislation), checked 5 October 2026.
- Bankruptcy and liquidation (Fair Work Ombudsman), checked 5 October 2026.
- Unpaid super from your employer (ATO), checked 5 October 2026.
- Who doesn't get redundancy pay (Fair Work Ombudsman), checked 24 September 2026.
Independent guide — not a government service, and not financial, legal or tax advice.