Fair Work Act 2009
s.394—Unfair dismissal

Paul Ruddell
v
Windermere Child and Family Services
(U2021/10175)

Application for an unfair dismissal remedy

[1] On 11 November 2021, Mr Paul Ruddell made an application to the Fair Work Commission for a remedy for unfair dismissal pursuant to s.394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). Mr Ruddell alleged he was unfairly dismissed by Windermere Child and Family Services on 5 November 2021.

[2] The application was incomplete in that Mr Ruddell did not pay the required fee or file a completed waiver form.

[3] On 12 November 2021 the Commission attempted to contact Mr Ruddell on his nominated telephone number to discuss payment of the required fee however a message advised the phone was disconnected.

[4] Later that day, the Commission emailed correspondence to Mr Ruddell’s nominated email address advising that his application required payment of the filing fee or a completed waiver form if he wished to proceed with the application. That correspondence also warned that if payment was not made or a waiver form was not received within 14 days the application may be dismissed.

[5] A final attempt to contact Mr Ruddell was made by the Commission on 25 November 2021 to obtain payment or a completed waiver form. A message advised the phone was disconnected.

[6] To date there has been no response from Mr Ruddell, the required fee has not been paid and a completed waiver form has not been received.

[7] Section 395 of the FW Act, which deals with application fees, provides as follows:

395 Application fees

(1) An application to the FWC under this Division must be accompanied by any fee prescribed by the regulations.

(2) The regulations may prescribe:

(a) a fee for making an application to the FWC under this Division; and

(b) a method for indexing the fee; and

(c) the circumstances in which all or part of the fee may be waived or refunded.

[8] Section 587(1) of the FW Act provides:

587 Dismissing applications

(1) Without limiting when the FWC may dismiss an application, the FWC may dismiss an application if:

(a) the application is not made in accordance with this Act; or

(b) the application is frivolous or vexatious; or

(c) the application has no reasonable prospect of success.

[9] Having regard to the circumstances of this matter, I am satisfied that as the application was not accompanied by the fee prescribed by the FW Act, the application was not made in accordance with the FW Act. As such, the application is dismissed pursuant to s.587(1)(a) of the FW Act. An order 1 to this effect will be issued shortly.

COMMISSIONER

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