The Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, acting on its own initiative, issued a Summons to Show Cause on 17 April 2025 that asked interested parties whether the Commission should retain the current Principles for Review of Awards (Award Review Principles) and to generally review the form and content of the Principles. In the event that the Principles are retained, the parties were asked to consider: 

1. Introducing an obligation for plain English drafting;
2. Having award clauses follow a consistent order and format ;
3. Whether there ought to be a presumption in favour of consolidating awards and/or standardising conditions that apply to employees employed by the same section or part of the public sector;
4. The need for the Principles to reflect or accommodate the operation of Chapter 2A of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW);
5. The procedure by which award review proceedings should be conciliated;
6. Whether award reviews should be conducted by examining awards concurrently in batches focusing on groups of awards that affect related employees; and
7. Whether and how any productivity improvements arising from award reviews and modernisation should be recognised.