Skip to main content

Ribbon

  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Glossary
  • News & media
Fair Work Commission logo

Fair Work Commission

Australia's national workplace relations tribunal
Search is closed
Menu is closed

Search

Main menu

  • Awards & agreements
    • Minimum wages & conditions
    • Awards
    • Agreements
    • Legislation & regulations for awards & agreements
  • Cases, decisions & orders
    • Major cases
    • Summaries of significant decisions
    • Decisions by keywords
    • FWC Bulletin
    • Archived decisions & orders
    • Transcripts
    • Court reviews
    • Historical cases
  • Registered organisations
    • Fact sheets, templates & webinars
    • Find registered organisations
    • Find State-recognised associations
    • Registration
    • Running a registered organisation
    • Entry permits
    • Industrial action
    • Gazette notices
    • Lodgment
  • Resources
    • Online lodgment
    • Forms
    • Where to get legal help
    • Research
    • Workplace Relations Education Series
    • Benchbooks
    • Fact sheets, guides & videos
    • Practice notes
    • Resources in other languages
    • Case studies
    • Quarterly practitioner updates
    • Related sites
  • Termination of employment
    • Unfair dismissal
    • General protections dismissal
    • Unlawful termination
    • How the Commission works
  • Disputes at work
    • Fairness in the workplace
    • Resolving issues at the Commission
    • Cooperative Workplaces program
    • JobKeeper disputes
    • General protections (unlawful actions)
    • Anti-bullying
    • Industrial action
    • Awards & enterprise agreements disputes
    • Disputes about entry
    • How the Commission works
  • Home
  • Contact us
Back to top

Complaints & feedback

Print this page

 

Table of contents

On this page

  • Our commitment
  • Complaints about staff & administrative processes
  • Complaints about Members
  • Vexatious complaints
  • Complaints about lawyers or paid agents
  • Complaints for other bodies

 

Our commitment

The Fair Work Commission is committed to providing outstanding service to our clients. Complaints and feedback about administrative matters can help drive service improvement. All complaints are taken seriously.

Complaints about staff & administrative processes

Any Commission staff member can accept your complaint or feedback in person or over the telephone. If you make a complaint which cannot be resolved by the person you first speak to, if it is inappropriate for that person to respond, or if you require a written response to your complaint, you will be asked to make your complaint in writing.

Written complaints and feedback about Commission staff or administrative processes can be sent by:

  • fax to 03 9655 0401
  • email to complaints@fwc.gov.au
  • post to The Director, Client Experience, Fair Work Commission, GPO Box 1994, Melbourne, VIC, 3001

Complaints about Commission staff or administrative services are addressed by the relevant Director, or other staff where appropriate.

How long will it take to resolve a complaint?

If your complaint is made in person or over the telephone we will try to resolve it immediately, but in some cases more time may be needed to respond to a complaint.

If your complaint is made in writing we will respond within 20 working days. If your complaint is complex it may take longer to resolve. We will endeavour to keep you informed of our progress when dealing with your complaint.

If you are still not satisfied

If you are still not satisfied after we have investigated your complaint, you can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman. For more information call the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office on 1300 362 072 or visit the Commonwealth Ombudsman's website.

Complaints about Members

Complaints and feedback about Member conduct are addressed by the President of the Commission and should be made in writing.

If you do not agree with the result of a decision made by a Member of the Commission in your case, you may seek to appeal that decision. There are time limits for appeals and parties need to act promptly.

Information about appealing a decision is available in a separate guide, as well as in the Commission’s Appeal proceedings practice note. Commission staff can give you information about the procedure for lodging an appeal. They cannot, however, advise you on whether or not you should appeal a decision. You may wish to seek legal advice when considering whether or not to appeal a decision made by a Member of the Commission.

Written complaints and feedback about Commission Members can be sent by:

  • fax to 03 9655 0401
  • email to chambers.ross.j@fwc.gov.au
  • post to The Honourable Justice Iain Ross, President, Fair Work Commission, GPO Box 1994, Melbourne, VIC, 3001

Complaints about Members will be dealt with as expeditiously as proper consideration of the matter permits.

Find out more

Please refer to the Commission’s Member Code of Conduct and the procedures for dealing with complaints about Members for detailed information about how complaints about Members are handled. You can also refer to the Commission’s Fair hearing practice note for information about the obligations of all participants (including Members) when participating in Commission proceedings.

To find out how to check on the progress of an agreement application lodged more than 8 weeks ago, please refer to our Agreements in progress page.

To check on the progress of a written decision in response to an application lodged more than 8 weeks ago, please email decisiontracking@fwc.gov.au.

Vexatious complaints

The Commission may not respond to a complaint that is vexatious, repetitive or lacks substance.

Allegations of misconduct, including corruption, without supporting evidence may be treated as lacking substance.

Abusive or threatening correspondence or conduct may be referred to the appropriate authority.

Complaints about lawyers or paid agents

We sometimes receive complaints from people about lawyers or paid agents who represented them in cases at the Commission. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has a Public Warning Notice on its website about the alleged conduct of Dismissals Direct Pty Ltd ACN 616 466 865 (trading as Unfair Dismissals Direct).

The Commission does not provide legal advice, and we cannot take action against lawyers or paid agents on your behalf if you are unhappy with their services.

If you wish to make a complaint about a lawyer or paid agent, please refer to our Complaints about lawyers & paid agents page for more information.

Complaints for other bodies

If you have a workplace complaint that is not directly related to the Commission you may need to contact another body. The Fair Work Ombudsman, for example, can help with issues involving the non-payment of wages and other work entitlements.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is a separate body from the Commission, and you can go to their website for information about How they will help.

Your privacy

Please note that we only use the information you provide to respond to your complaint.

For more information about how we use and save your personal details please refer to the Commission's Privacy policy.

Updated time

Last updated

08 January 2021

 

Bookmark/Search this post

Facebook logo Google+ logo Twitter logo

Page feedback

Did you find what you were looking for?

Please note: If you would like a response to your question, please contact us or lodge a complaint. This feedback is only about content on this page and will be used to improve website usability. The comments are not monitored for personal information or workplace complaints. 

Ribbon

  • About us
    • COVID-19 information
      • COVID-19 & awards
      • COVID-19 & enterprise agreements
      • COVIDSafe app & workplace rights
      • COVID-19 updates
    • JobKeeper scheme
      • JobKeeper disputes
      • JobKeeper directions & agreements – qualifying employers
      • JobKeeper directions & agreements – legacy employers
      • JobKeeper workplace rights & general protections
      • JobKeeper help
    • National workplace relations system
      • Coverage
      • National employment standards
      • The Commission & the Fair Work Ombudsman
    • Contact us
      • Commission offices
      • Complaints & feedback
      • Accessibility
    • Events
      • International perspectives on dispute resolution conference
      • Asia & Pacific regional conference & training course
    • Consultation
      • Client experience feedback & research
    • Members & case allocations
      • List of Commission Members
      • Case allocation system
        • BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) Projects
        • Barangaroo South Development Project
        • Chevron Gorgon Gas Project
        • Cross River Rail Project
        • INPEX Timor Sea Oil & Gas Project
        • Wheatstone Gas Project
      • List of industries
    • Operations
      • Service charter
      • Statement of commitment to Indigenous Australians
      • What's Next
      • Future Directions
        • Productivity & engaging with industry
        • Future Directions pilots
          • Agreements triage pilot
          • General protections assistance for self-represented parties pilot
          • General protections conciliators pilot
          • Permission to appeal pilot
          • Unfair dismissal cooling-off pilot
          • Unfair dismissal pro bono pilot program
      • Budgets & expenditure
        • Audit Committee
      • Tenders & contracts
      • Grants
      • Agency file listing
      • Commission engagement activities
        • International engagement
        • Stakeholder user groups
    • Executive
    • History
    • Legislation & regulations
      • Small Business Fair Dismissal Code
    • Reports & publications
      • Annual reports
      • Quarterly reports
      • General Manager's reports
        • Reports
        • Research
      • Subscribe to updates
    • Careers
      • How to apply for a job at the Commission
    • Legal
      • Copyright
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy
        • Privacy policy
        • Privacy Impact Assessment Register
      • Freedom of information
        • Privacy notice – Freedom of information & privacy
        • FOI disclosure log
      • Information publication scheme
      • Information publication plan
      • Public interest disclosure scheme
  • Contact us
    • Commission offices
    • Complaints & feedback
      • Complaints about lawyers & paid agents
      • Procedure for dealing with complaints about Members
    • Accessibility
  • Glossary
  • News & media
    • Latest news
    • Media releases
    • Speeches
    • News archive

Footer

  • Site map
  • Legal
  • Copyright
  • Accessibility

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information