No plan to recall Shorten: commission

The unions royal commission does not plan to recall Labor leader Bill Shorten to the witness stand.

The commission has set aside October 12-23 for Sydney hearings into the Australian Workers Union, which Mr Shorten led before entering parliament.

"At this stage the commission does not propose to recall Mr Shorten as a witness," the commission said in a statement on Thursday.

The commission said it was open to "affected parties" to seek authorisation to cross-examine Mr Shorten during the course of the inquiry.

"In the event that such an application is made, it will be considered in due course," the statement said.

Mr Shorten, the former AWU national and Victorian state secretary, appeared for two days at the commission in July.

Royal commissioner Dyson Heydon accused him of being "non-responsive" in answering questions about AWU agreements with a number of companies, and expressed concerns about his credibility as a witness.

Mr Shorten said he had answered all of the commission's questions and stood by his record of defending workers' rights.