Trade union royal commissioner Dyson Heydon has deferred his decision on his future in the role until Monday.

“The commissioner has postponed Friday’s decision on recusal application at request of parties,” the royal commission tweeted.

“Decision on disqualification application now expected next Monday,” it added.

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Justice Heydon’s position as the head of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption came under fire after he agreed to speak at a Liberal Party event.

Earlier today, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said the union wanted time to consider more documents concerning Mr Heydon’s actions in accepting and then withdrawing from the engagement.

“We are asking that they provide us with the relevant information and that they should be prepared to defer handing down their decision tomorrow,” he said.

“We hope that this time around that they will provide us with all the information in accordance with the original request that we made nearly two weeks ago.”

Unions want the commissioner to disqualify himself from the inquiry on the basis of “apprehended bias” — what the average person might think after his acceptance of the invitation.

This is the second postponement after Justice Heydon deferred the decision — originally planned for Tuesday, August 25 — on Monday.