Information for Complainants

Reporting a workplace issue is often a significant leap of faith, but it helps to understand how the investigation process works

As a complainant, when you have lodged a grievance or raised an issue with your employer, we may be contacted to start an investigation. If this happens, your employer may give us relevant information to help us prepare our investigation. Information may include workplace policies and any notes taken at the time you made your complaint.

How can I trust that the investigation will be unbiased?

We are independent investigators, which means that we don’t take sides during an investigation. Nor do we have any prior opinions or conclusions about the issue. It means that you can be confident that the investigation will be thorough and fair.

What is the investigation process?

When we are ready to investigate, we will contact you by letter to let you know the investigation is about to start and ask you to attend an interview with us. Usually, we seek to interview you in person. However, occasionally, if you’re in a regional area or subject to COVID-19 restrictions, we may conduct interviews by video conference or phone.

At our interview with you, we will ask you questions to:

Understand the issue
Get a detailed description of any incidents and witnesses
Learn how you believe the issue can be resolved

Then we’ll interview witnesses and any respondents (but not in your presence). This may take time, depending on how many people we need to interview and the complexity of the issues.

What else do I need to know?

It’s vital that you understand:

We investigate in an unbiased way, aiming to be fair to everyone involved
We give you a transcript of the interview
We report our findings to your employer, and we will make recommendations about how to resolve the issue
Our discussions with you are confidential
You are entitled to have a support person with you during your interview. For example, a union representative, a family member or a close friend
We can’t compel you to participate in the investigation, although it may be a condition of your employment. To clarify, you should check with your employer
The more information you as a complainant can provide, often the easier it is to resolve a workplace issue. We encourage you to give us as much detail as possible in your interview
Lying or deliberately omitting information during our interview (or any subsequent interviews) may be an act of misconduct. Your employer may take action against you (including terminating your employment) if this happens
If you have questions or remember something relevant, you can contact us to discuss it. During our interview, we will let you know how to make contact

For more information about your rights and responsibilities during a workplace investigation, see the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website.