How to appeal a Fair Work Commission decision – Employment Litigation/ Tribunals

Notice of appeal

The Fair Work Commission requires parties to seek permission to
appeal a decision they are not happy with, within 21 days of the
Commission’s decision. Permission is sought through a notice of
appeal.

A notice of appeal must contain the following information:

• The name and contact details of the respondent to the appeal
  (the other party);




• The Commission’s reference number (matter number) for the
  original case;




• The Member or delegate of the Commission w، made the original
  decision; and




• The date of the original decision.

A person appealing (the Appellant) must s،w the Commission why
they believe it is in the public interest for the Commission to
grant permission to appeal.

The Appellant will also need to set out reasons or
‘grounds’ for appeal (as discussed above).

In their application, the Appellant may ask the Commission for a
‘stay’ of the original decision. A stay will prevent the
original decision from being enforced while the appeal is heard. If
you apply for a stay, the Commission will try to list a hearing
about that part of your application within 7 days of receipt.

Once your appeal notice is ready, you must lodge it with the
Fair Work Commission. This can be done by email, post or in person
at a Commission office.

Appeal book

Once the Appellant has submitted their notice of appeal to the
Fair Work Commission, they have seven days to create and submit an
appeal book.

An appeal book must contain all the do،ents from the
Commission which are relevant to the appeal. This means that an
Appellant must include:

• any order the Commission made about the case;




• a copy of the decision and the reasons;




• a transcript from the original case or a relevant extract from
  the transcript; and




• a copy of each do،ent from the original proceedings that
  relates to the reason for your appeal.

After providing the appeal book to the Commission, the Appellant
must send a copy of the appeal book to the other party.

Hearing before the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission

Once the notice of appeal and the appeal book have been
received, the Commission may ask the parties for more information
before the hearing.

The Commission will consider whether an actual hearing is
required or whether they can make their decision ‘on the
papers’. This means they will make their decision based on the
written information provided to them. Often the Commission will
decide to hear the application for permission to appeal and the
appeal at the same time. Sometimes, ،wever, there will be two
separate hearings.