The complaint process
for complaints about discrimination in employment based on religion, criminal record, trade union activity, sexual preference, political opinion and social origin
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The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent body which investigates and resolves complaints about discrimination and breaches of human rights.
You can make a complaint no matter where you live in Australia and it doesn’t cost anything to make a complaint. The steps in the complaint process are outlined below.
Make an enquiry
- If you are unsure if you can make a complaint about something, you can contact the Commission’s Complaint Information Service by phone on 1300 656 419 or by email to complaintsinfo@humanrights.gov.au
- We can send you a complaint form to start the process.
- If we can’t help you, we will try to refer you to someone who can.
Make a complaint
- A complaint must be in writing. You can fill in a complaint form and post or fax it back to us or you can lodge a complaint online on our website. (www.humanrights.gov.au)
- You can make a complaint in your preferred language and we can help you write down your complaint if necessary.
- You do not need a lawyer to make a complaint.
- If we cannot deal with your complaint, we will explain why.
Investigation
- We will contact you to talk about your complaint and we may ask you to provide more information.
- Generally, the Commission will contact the person or organisation you are complaining about, provide them with a copy of your complaint and ask for their comments and other relevant information. We will let you know what they have said in response to your complaint.
- In some cases we may decide not to continue to deal with your complaint. If this happens, we will explain why.
- We may talk to you about trying to resolve the complaint by conciliation.
Conciliation
- Conciliation means that we try to help you and the person or organisation you are complaining about try to find a way to resolve the matter.
- Conciliation can take place in a face-to-face meeting called a ‘conciliation conference’ or through a telephone conference. In some cases complaints can be resolved through an exchange of letters or by passing messages through the conciliator.
- Complaints can be resolved in many different ways. For example by an apology, a change of policy or compensation.
Decision
- If the complaint is not resolved or discontinued for some other reason, the President of the Commission will decide if discrimination has occurred. This might involve the President holding a public hearing where each side presents their version of events and answers questions.
- If the President is satisfied that discrimination has occurred, the President will report the matter to the federal Attorney-General. In the report, the President can recommend compensation for any loss or injury a person has experienced. The report must be tabled in Parliament.
- Examples of the President’s decisions about discrimination are available on the Commission’s website at www.humanrights.gov.au/legal/humanrightsreports/index.html
The complaint process
