Our commitment to you
Find information about the Fair Work Ombudsman’s services, what you can expect from us and what to do if you aren’t satisfied.
On this page:
Customer experience statement
The customer experience statement is our commitment to you. It sets out:
- what you can expect from us
- what we expect from you
- how to give us your feedback and how we use it.
What you can expect from us
Whenever you contact us, you can expect that we will treat you in a courteous, respectful and timely way. Our main aim is to help you with your enquiry. We will take all necessary steps to provide you with a service you are satisfied with.
We will provide you with practical advice, education and assistance that can be relied upon based on the information you give to us at the time. If we can’t help you with your enquiry, we will direct you to the right place.
We recognise that your situation is unique and will take the time to discuss and understand your individual circumstances.
We expect that your interaction with our staff will provide you with a greater understanding of your rights and responsibilities under the Australian workplace relations system.
What we expect from you
When dealing with our staff, we expect that you are cooperative, courteous and respectful.
There are a number of ways you can make it easier and quicker for us to help you:
- Register for My account. This will help us understand the information that applies to you and to tailor information to you.
- When requesting assistance, be as specific and accurate as you can. This will help us find the information that applies to you. When making a request for assistance give us as much detail as possible, including telling us if any evidence exists. You can find more information about how you can prepare for your enquiry with us on the Before you call page.
- If you have an enquiry about an active request for assistance, have your customer reference number or matter reference number handy and ready to quote.
- Be actively involved once you have requested assistance from us by:
- responding when we contact you, within requested times
- seeking and providing timely updates
- notifying us if you no longer need our assistance.
What do you think of our service?
We welcome your comments and feedback about your experience with us and our services. Your feedback helps us deliver a better service.
Go to our Feedback section to complete our feedback form.
Customer service charter
The customer service charter outlines the nature of the services you can expect from us, including what you can do if you are not satisfied with our service.
You can find out more about Our role and purpose and Our priorities.
The customer service charter sets out:
- what our services are
- our 5 principles of customer service
- information about your privacy.
Our services
We provide our services through:
- our website – www.fairwork.gov.au – the first point of contact for information and advice about Australia’s workplace relations system
- Fair Work Infoline – speak to one of our helpful advisers by calling 13 13 94 between 8 am and 5:30 pm, Monday to Friday
- our staff and Fair Work Inspectors.
We don’t provide legal advice.
Register for My account to access personalised workplace information and resources, and ask us general questions about your workplace rights and obligations. By registering for My account, you can:
- receive general information about workplace laws, minimum employment conditions and entitlements
- save personalised Pay, Shift, Leave and Notice and Redundancy results and calculations from our Pay and Conditions Tool
- keep up to date with industry and award changes.
We also undertake educational activities and campaigns and provide information services, best practice guides and general educational information to the public. These services and campaigns are run at national, state and local levels and can target specific industries.
If someone believes that they haven't received their minimum entitlements at work they can lodge a request for assistance with us. When we receive a request for assistance, we make an assessment about the best way to deal with it. We find that in most situations employees and employers can resolve their workplace issues by relying on our educational resources or dispute resolution services. In circumstances where breaches of workplace laws have significant consequences, are of public interest or relate to Our priorities, we can decide to conduct formal investigations that can lead to compliance and enforcement outcomes.
Further information about how the FWO delivers its services to promote and monitor compliance with workplace laws is outlined in the Compliance and Enforcement Policy, available on the Our policies page.
If someone believes they have information and is concerned someone isn’t following workplace laws but they don’t wish to get involved directly, they can make an anonymous report in English and in various other languages.
In these circumstances, we won’t contact customers but information will be used to:
- help us plan current and future education and enforcement activities
- where appropriate, share with other Commonwealth, State and Territory bodies to help with the administration or enforcement of a law.
Working with you
We are committed to giving you the highest quality service. Our services are underpinned by the following 5 principles.
1. Accessibility
We are committed to ensuring our services are available to everyone. We do this by providing information and assistance in several ways – online, over the phone and in person.
How to access our services?
For information on workplace relations matters you can:
- visit our website www.fairwork.gov.au
- call us on 13 13 94 to talk to the staff member or Fair Work Inspector who is assigned to your case, or their manager, if you have lodged a request for assistance with us
- contact us online through My account for general information and we'll respond within 10 business days
- write to us at GPO Box 9887 in your capital city.
Help in your language
If you don’t speak or understand English well, call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450.
Tell them which language you speak and give them our phone number, 13 13 94. They will call us for you and interpret your question.
We're open 8 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday (except for public holidays).
For more information, visit TIS National.
You can also visit our Language help page for employment information in 30 languages.
Deaf, hard of hearing or speech difficulty
If you are deaf, or have hearing or speech difficulties, you can contact us through the National Relay Service. Select your preferred access option and give our phone number, 13 13 94.
We're open 8 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday (except for public holidays).
For more information, visit About the National Relay Service.
2. Responsiveness
We aim to offer a timely and quality service. We also seek to be responsive by making it easy for you to interact with us.
We are continually looking to improve our performance and to enhance the customer experience.
Further information on how we aim to achieve this, including our Key Performance Indicators, can be found in our Corporate plan.
3. Ongoing communication and review
Where you have made a request for assistance, you can expect to receive regular updates regarding the progress and outcome.
If you have any concerns about how your request for assistance is progressing, you can talk to the Fair Work Ombudsman staff member who is assigned to your case or their manager.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your request for assistance, you can go to our feedback form to request a review.
4. Fairness
We treat all members of the public fairly, impartially, and without bias.
5. Accountability
The reliability of our advice depends on you providing accurate and complete information at the time of your enquiry. Our advice is based on the relevant legislation and existing case law at the time of our advice.
If we provide incorrect advice about minimum wages or conditions of employment, our error was not a result of us being provided with incorrect or misleading information, and our advice is relied on and followed in good faith, we:
- will not pursue a penalty for not paying the correct entitlements before the person is advised of the mistake
- will assist in any dispute to resolve concerns about outstanding entitlements
- may require that outstanding entitlements be paid and that correct entitlements are paid once the incorrect advice is identified
- will consider any legal liability or consequences which may be caused by the incorrect or erroneous advice under the Legal Services Directions 2017 (Cth).
The Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Inspectors and staff employed by the Fair Work Ombudsman are bound by the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth). This means that they are bound by the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct and have to uphold the highest ethical standards at all times.
Your privacy
We are committed to protecting your privacy. Find out more on our Privacy page.
