Apply to refer a dispute to our commissioner

Submit an online application to refer a systemic gender equality dispute to the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner.

Who can use this form

Use this form if you:

  • work in a public sector body, Court Services Victoria, the Office of Public Prosecutions, or a defined entity prescribed by regulations, and
  • are covered by an enterprise agreement or workplace determination, which contains a gender equality term which allows for the Commissioner’s involvement, and
  • you are part of a class or group of employees, a union or employer who is involved in a dispute about a systemic gender equality issue arising under the enterprise agreement or workplace determination

Employees and unions

You must have taken the steps to raise your dispute directly with the employer and provided them with a reasonable opportunity to respond and the dispute (or elements) of it remain unresolved.

Employer

You must have made genuine attempts to resolve the matter in accordance with the relevant terms of your employee’s enterprise agreement or workplace determination, and the dispute (or elements) of it remain unresolved.

Where to get help

Commission staff cannot provide legal or employment advice to members of the public. However, Commission staff can give you general information on:

  • the key obligations obligations in the Gender Equality Act 2020
  • how the Commissioner can support in resolving disputes
  • other organisations that may be able to assist you to resolve your issue
  • guidance on how to complete this form

This form should be read in conjunction with the Guidance Note which can be found on our dispute resolution page.

If you have any queries or need help filling in this form, email the Commission: disputes@genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au.

Next steps

Once we receive your application form, we will review it to see if the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner is able to help resolve the dispute. To make sure we can help, we may need to ask you for more information.

We will usually provide a copy of the form to the other party to the dispute and, if necessary, to others who have relevant information about the dispute.

Your personal information will be used and stored in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and in line with our privacy policy.

Read more about dispute resolution

Submit your online application

Part 1 - Applicant details

Please provide the contact details of the applicant (key contact person if a group/class)

If the applicant is an employer or union please provide the following details:

Do you need an interpreter?
Do you need any special assistance to participate in the dispute resolution process (eg. a hearing loop)?
Is the applicant represented by a union or employer organisation?

Contact details of the respondent to the dispute

Please provide the contact details of a relevant contact of the respondent to the dispute. If the applicant is a union or employee the respondent contact will be a contact within your employer who has been dealing with the dispute. If the applicant is an employer or employer organisation then respondent details will be those of the affected employees or union representing the employees.

If the respondent is an employer or union please provide the following details:

Part 2 - Details of dispute

Power for the Commissioner to assist in resolving a dispute about a systemic gender equality issue

Please provide the following details which will determine whether the Commissioner has the power to assist the parties to resolve the dispute about a systemic gender equality issue.

Please indicate the relevant category for the employer who is subject to the dispute:

Express power for the Commission to assist with disputes about a systemic gender equality issue

The Commissioner can only deal with a dispute if an enterprise agreement or workplace determination provides power for them to do so. Please complete the table below to indicate the source of the Commissioner’s power to resolve disputes about a systemic gender equality issue.

Details of the dispute of the systemic gender equality issue

To assist the parties to resolve a dispute, the Commissioner must first understand the issue and your proposed resolution. Please complete the table below by providing details of the issue and the proposed resolution.

Gender Equality Act 2020 workplace gender equality indicator(s) to which the dispute relates (please select all that are relevant)

Details of steps taken to resolve dispute internally

Before the Commissioner can assist the parties to resolve a dispute about a systemic gender equality issue the parties must have attempted to resolve the issue internally.

For employees, this means:

  • the employer must have been advised of the systemic gender equality issue, and
  • provided with a reasonable opportunity to investigate and respond

In the boxes below please detail the steps taken to resolve the dispute at the local level.

The Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector collects the information that you provide with this application form. The information that you provide is used to respond to your enquiry. You can request access to, and corrections of, any personal information provided in this form. Requests for access or correction should be sent to disputes@genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au.

The Commissioner (or any other person permitted under section 46 of the Gender Equality Act 2020) will usually disclose the information you have provided to other party/ies to the dispute as identified in the application form, and to other third party individuals or organisations, as permitted by section 46 - 46A of the Gender Equality Act 2020. See the Commission's Privacy Policy for further information.

The Commission is using the services of Drupal 9 to administer this form. The information that you provide is stored in our Drupal 9 content management system and Microsoft Azure servers. For more information on the Commission’s handling of any personal information, please refer to the Commission's Privacy Statement.

If you do not provide all or part of the information requested, the Commission may not be able to contact you regarding your enquiry. Please contact the Commission if you wish to use an alternative mechanism to the online form.

Submit an attachment

If you'd like to submit attachments to support your application, please email these to disputes@genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au

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