Voices of IR 2026 - Taming AI; Can it be done?

Voices of IR 2026 

Taming AI; Can it be done?

Webinar - Wednesday 10 June 2026 - 5 PM - 6 PM (AEST)

Proudly presenting our second webinar for 2026—part of a dynamic year-long professional development program. 

Free for IRSV members and members of interstate ALERA affiliates, Taming AI; Can it be done? tackles one of the defining workplace issues of our time, examining two major AI challenges that every IR practitioner needs to be ready for. 

Joseph Mitchell, ACTU Assistant Secretary, will unpack the guardrails unions are seeking around the use of AI in Australian workplaces—and what they could mean in practice. 

Murray Furlong, General Manager of the Fair Work Commission, and Deputy President Abbey Beaumont will offer a rare inside view of how the Commission is responding to the growing volume of AI-generated material—and where AI may genuinely improve case management for the Commission and parties alike. 

The webinar will be moderated by Nicholas Wilson, workplace relations consultant and former FWC Commissioner. 

Join us online on Wednesday 10 June 2026, from 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm AEST, via Zoom. Book online at www.irsv.asn.au/ 

Registration details will be provided on sign-up. 

This webinar is free for IRSV members. Join or renew today to secure your place (www.irsv.asn.au/join). 

About the speakers 

Joseph Mitchell was re-elected ACTU Assistant Secretary at the ACTU Congress in June 2024. Since joining the ACTU in 2016, he has served as Political Director and Policy Officer, worked with the Innovation and Growth Taskforces, and most recently led the ACTU Centre for Workers’ Capital. He was instrumental in negotiating a landmark AI framework agreement with Microsoft aimed at elevating the voices and expertise of working people in the introduction of artificial intelligence. 

Deputy President Abbey Beaumont was appointed to the Fair Work Commission in August 2017. She previously served as Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Remuneration Tribunal and, before joining the Commission, was Human Resources Corporate and Employee Relations Manager at Fortescue Metals Group. She has also served on the Board Reference Group for the Australian Mines and Minerals Association and the Industrial Relations Advisory Group for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, and has worked in both private practice and government as a legal adviser. 

Murray Furlong is the statutory Agency Head and Accountable Authority of the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s national workplace relations tribunal. He is also the independent statutory regulator of federally registered organisations. 

Murray has held executive positions at the Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman and Australian Building and Construction Commission. He has 25 years’ experience in regulatory, policy, dispute resolution, advisory and governance roles.