Make a complaint

Complaints Update

Please note that due to a very large increase in complaints received by the Commission, there may be a significant delay in actioning complaints. The Commission will try to action complaints as soon as possible.

Introduction

What we do

The Australian Human Rights Commission investigates and conciliates complaints about discrimination and breaches of human rights. It does not act as an advocate or legal representative for a party to a complaint. The complaint process is simple, free and flexible. More on what can you complain about.

Your complaint information

To help us to deal with your complaint in an effective and timely manner, we ask:

You keep your complaint to one document of no more than 20 pages. You can use our complaint form to help you make your complaint.
You provide no more than two attachments to your complaint. If we need more information, we will ask you for this.

Please note that we do not accept information provided by links or drop boxes.

The Commission manages a large volume of complaints with limited resources and may not be able to review information which exceeds the above requirements.

Contact details

We will need to contact you about the complaint, so please provide your name and contact details, including one contact number if possible. If you do not provide this information we may not be able to deal with the complaint.

About the complaint process

We will use the information you provide to assess, investigate and/or conciliate your complaint. We will usually provide a copy of the complaint (excluding your contact details) to the person or organisation you are complaining about, and if necessary, others who have relevant information about the complaint.

We may ask the respondent to provide specific information or a response to the complaint. The information provided to the Commission in response to your complaint may include personal information (including sensitive information) about you.

By completing and submitting this form you consent to the Commission using your information for these purposes.

Learn more about the Complaint Process.

Questions

If you have any questions about this or need help to complete this form, please contact our National Information Service on 1300 656 419 or 02 9284 9600.

Your personal information will be used and stored in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

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Download forms

AHRC complaint form
(186.97 KB)
(PDF)

AHRC complaint form
(70.95 KB)
(WORD)
You can complete and submit a complaint online or you can print a hard copy and send it to us.
If you would like the Commission to send you a hard copy complaint form or if you need assistance to write down your complaint, please call our National Information Service on 1300 656 419.
You can also contact us via the:
Translating and Interpreting Service: 131 450 or www.tisnational.gov.au or the
National Relay Service: 1300 555 727 (Speak and Listen) or www.relayservice.gov.au
Submitting the complaint form
The complaint form can be submitted by:
Post: Australian Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: 02 9284 9611
Email: complaints@humanrights.gov.au
Authority to Act

If you are lodging a complaint on behalf of another person, this person will need to provide authorisation for you to act on their behalf. They can do this by completing the attached Authority to Act form, which should be submitted together with the complaint form.

Authority to Act.doc (to be completed electronically)

Authority to Act.pdf (to be completed by hand)

Post to Director, Investigation and Conciliation Service, Australian Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

Fax to 02 9284 9611

Email to infoservice@humanrights.gov.au

Part 4 of 4 - Other information

How do you think the complaint could be resolved?

Have you complained about this to another organisation?

Yes

For example, a state anti discrimination or equal opportunity agency, a workers compensation agency, an ombudsman or the Fair Work Commission. If you have complained to another agency, you must provide details of the complaint and its outcome. You should also attach copies of any letters you have received from the agency.

Were you referred to us by another organisation?

Yes

ICS Privacy Collection Notice

The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) collects and handles personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.

By completing this online form and providing us with your personal information and sensitive information as part of the Commission’s complaints process under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) (AHRC Act), you consent to us collecting your personal information and sensitive information and using it for the purposes set out below.

We collect personal information about complainants, respondents and third parties in the course of receiving and handling complaints made under the AHRC Act. Personal information about an individual may be collected by the Commission from a complainant, respondent or third party and may be received in various ways, including through our online complaint form, responses to complaints, by email, by letter or by phone.

We will use the personal information provided to us for the purposes of administering our functions under the AHRC Act, including to assess, investigate and conciliate a complaint, analyse trends, prepare statistical data and report on complaints received by the Commission and maintain the Commission’s conciliation register.

If we accept a complaint, we will usually provide a copy (excluding the complainant’s contact details) to the person or organisation being complained about. Where necessary, we may also provide a copy to others who are related to, or are named in, the complaint. We may also share other information provided by a complainant, respondent or third party with other parties to the complaint and any third party who may be relevant to the complaint for the purposes of handling the complaint.

To properly handle a complaint, it may be necessary for us to disclose personal information we collect as part of our complaints function to an overseas recipient. For example, where:

a party to a complaint is based overseas
an Australian-based respondent is the related body corporate to an overseas company
you have complained to an overseas entity and the Commission about the same or a related matter.

If we receive the personal information of third parties who are not a party to a complaint, we will also collect this information. We may not inform those third parties that their information has been collected and will only use their personal information to the extent necessary to perform our functions under the AHRC Act.

Information provided in making, responding to, or providing a contribution related to a complaint, including information about parties and allegations made in a complaint, may be used for statistical or research purposes, as case studies, as examples, and to improve our service delivery. This includes any survey responses related to the complaints process. Any published information, case study or example will not include names or information that may identify an individual.

Our Privacy Policy sets out how you can make a complaint about how we have handled your information and how we will deal with your complaint.

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