alleged failure to pay managers at corporate-owned and franchisee-owned McDonald’s “restaurants” for work performed before the rostered start time and/or after the rostered finish time of shifts
Quick Take
1Under s 37P(2) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth), a court may direct parties to confer, with the assistance of a suitably qualified technology expert, on the suitability of using AI to collate, analyse and synthesise primary records for mediation and trial, provided any methodology preserves traceability to primary sources, permits outputs to be tested and corrected, protects privileged and confidential material, and remains subject to appropriate human supervision.
2The overarching purpose of the civil practice and procedure provisions requires courts and parties to consider whether new technology, including AI, can perform mechanical tasks of collection and synthesis more efficiently than traditional manual methods; the historical cost of performing a task should not be treated as an unavoidable characteristic of the task itself.
3The appropriate judicial role in directing AI use is to require serious cooperative examination of its potential rather than to prescribe the technology, select a provider, or predetermine the form of any protocol — those matters require specialist expertise to be developed with the parties.
Case Details
Citation[2026] FCA 1264
CourtFCA
JurisdictionCommonwealth
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