Fair Work Commission

No contract of employment

If there is no contract of employment, a person cannot be considered an employee. A contract does not have to be in writing. It may, for example, be completely oral, completely written or a combination of the two.

There are several groups of people in the workforce who do not have a contract of employment with an employer, and are therefore not considered to be employees, for example, independent contractors. These workers are excluded from the national workplace relations system.

What do I do if I am outside the national workplace relations system?

If you think your employer is part of a state workplace relations system you should contact the industrial relations body in your state:

• Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales – www.irc.justice.nsw.gov.au
• Queensland Industrial Relations Commission – www.qirc.qld.gov.au
• South Australian Employment Tribunal – www.saet.sa.gov.au
• Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission – www.wairc.wa.gov.au
• Tasmanian Industrial Commission – www.tic.tas.gov.au