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.
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:
Complaints about Commission staff or administrative services are addressed by the Director, Client Services or other staff where appropriate.
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 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 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:
Complaints about Members will be dealt with as expeditiously as proper consideration of the matter permits.
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.
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.
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.
The Commission does not provide legal advice to its clients, and we cannot respond to complaints about the conduct of legal representatives. In each state and territory there are special arrangements through which complaints may be made about members of the legal profession. If you wish to make a complaint about a legal representative you should contact your state or territory law society or bar association for assistance.
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.