We will implement new technology for staff led conciliations and conferences from 20 November 2023. This follows a successful 4-week pilot conducted through September and October. The new technology will streamline the conciliation process and provide parties with a more user-friendly experience.
How it will work
From 20 November, all staff led unfair dismissal and general protections conciliations and conferences will be held using the new technology. You will be sent new notices of listing which will include the:
- date and time for the conciliation or conference in your local time zone
- technology needed to take part
- instructions on how to join
- information on where to get help.
You will receive a Microsoft Teams email invite from us 3 calendar days before the scheduled conciliation or conference. We will also send a reminder email 1 hour before. The email invite will contain a link that you can click to join online. You will be placed in an online lobby until the conciliator admits you.
The invite and reminder will be in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney). Please refer to your notice of listing for the time in your local time zone.
Private and confidential
Staff led conciliations and conferences remain private and confidential. Although we will be using online meeting technology, the meeting itself is audio only, just like a phone call. They will not be recorded and there will be no transcript.
Benefits of the new technology
There are multiple benefits of using this technology:
- Users will no longer need to wait for a conciliator to call them, they can simply join the conciliation or conference at the allocated time and wait in the online lobby for the conciliator to admit them.
- Parties and their representatives will be placed in online rooms when shuttle negotiations begin rather than being disconnected from the meeting.
- Parties and their representatives can discuss the case in private online rooms without needing to call each other independently.
The new technology demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving service delivery through digital transformation.
More information and support
Our staff have been trained to provide support to parties. If you cannot use the new technology for any reason, please contact us as soon as possible. Our staff conciliators will be able to dial you in by phone if given enough notice.
You can read the Piloting new conference technology for conciliations news item to learn more about the pilot. We are also in the process of updating our information and resources to better assist you. This includes our:
- Preparing for conciliation online learning module
- Conciliation for unfair dismissal website information
- Conferences for general protections dismissal website information.
We recommend you subscribe to our announcements and follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date.