The process for sexual harassment dispute claims

Eligible workers can apply to the Commission. Applications should generally be made within 2 years of the last incident of sexual harassment.

• Find out what is sexual harassment in connection with work 
• Find out if you are eligible to apply to the Commission

Find out if you can get free legal help

You don’t need a lawyer to come to the Commission, but you can think about getting legal advice before you apply.

Workers who want to apply for the Commission to deal with a sexual harassment dispute might be eligible for free legal advice through the Commission’s Workplace Advice Service.

• Find out where to get legal help from the Commission’s Workplace Advice Service.

An aggrieved person can apply to the Commission to deal with a sexual harassment dispute by making a stop sexual harassment order, otherwise dealing with the dispute (other than by arbitration), or both.

Applications can be made jointly by one or more aggrieved persons against one or more individuals or employers/principals, and can also be made by an industrial association entitled to represent the industrial interests of an aggrieved person.

How to apply to us to deal with a sexual harassment dispute (If you are eligible).

Once we receive the application, Commission staff will contact you and explain the process and next steps.

The Commission will send a copy of the application and any documents that are sent with the application to the other people involved in the case. This includes:

• the aggrieved person’s employer/principal (if any), and
• each respondent who allegedly sexually harassed an aggrieved person, and
• each employer/principal named in the application, and
• any lawyer or ‘paid agent’ involved in the case.

Commission staff will contact persons who have been named in an application as having engaged in sexual harassment in connection with work (respondents), and their employer/principal. If the aggrieved person is a worker, Commission staff will also contact the worker’s employer/principal named in the application.

We will ask you to respond to the application within 7 days. We will send a copy of your response to the other people in the case.

If you are an employer or principal of a person who is alleged to have engaged in sexual harassment, you must respond to the application.

If you are an employer or principal of the aggrieved person, you must respond if the application is for a stop sexual harassment order. If the application does not ask for a stop sexual harassment order, you can choose to respond if you wish. 

The Commission will assess the application and any responses or objections to decide next steps.

The Commission may join other parties to the dispute, including other aggrieved persons, their industrial associations and related employers or head contractors, if it is appropriate to do so.

The Commission will try to resolve cases in a way that is fair, just and quick. The Commission must start to deal with an application, to the extent it seeks a stop sexual harassment order, within 14 days after it is made. Where the Commission is dealing with a dispute in another way, this may include conciliating, making a recommendation or expressing an opinion.

Not all cases follow the same process. However, in most cases, the Commission will first deal with a dispute by holding a Member conference to see if the matter can be resolved.

Learn about Member conferences.

If a Member conference does not resolve the case, the next steps will depend on the type of application.  If the aggrieved person is asking the Commission to:

• Make orders to stop sexual harassment – the Commission may list the dispute for a determinative conference or a hearing. If the Commission finds that the person was sexually harassed and is at risk of continued sexual harassment by the person or persons, the Commission may make a stop sexual harassment order; and/or
• Deal with the dispute (other than by arbitration) - if the Member is satisfied that all reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute (other than by arbitration) have been, or are likely to be, unsuccessful, the Member must issue a certificate that says this. They must also advise the parties if they form the view that any consent arbitration or a sexual harassment court proceeding would not have a reasonable prospect of success. Once a certificate is issued, the aggrieved person can bring a sexual harassment court application, or, if at least one applicant and respondent agree, their dispute can be arbitrated by the Commission. In consent arbitration, the Commission has broad powers, including to express an opinion and make orders for compensation, lost remuneration or for a person to take certain steps.