The FWO Customer Service Charter outlines our services, what customers can expect from us and what they should do if dissatisfied. The charter is available at www.fairwork.gov.au.

We welcome feedback from customers about their experience with us. Our Feedback and Complaints Management Policy is available on our website and enables customers to:

• give feedback – comment about our services
• submit a service complaint – express dissatisfaction with an aspect of our service
• request a review – ask for a decision to be reassessed.

Of the 324 matters reported in 2018–19, 91 matters related to technical issues experienced by users of the website, following active solicitation of feedback.

The ROC actively seeks feedback about its services and practices. Users of the website are provided with the opportunity to provide feedback on all web pages. The ROC encourages participants in the ROC’s education activities to complete evaluation forms and feedback surveys.

The ROC provides a formal complaint handling process for complaints about its staff and administrative processes, which is published on the ROC website.

The ROC did not receive any formal complaints about its staff or administrative processes during the reporting period.

Reports to the Commonwealth Ombudsman

If a customer is not satisfied with the way we respond to their feedback or complaint, they can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman investigates complaints about our actions and identifies and conducts its own motion investigations on administration matters. In 2018–19, no formal reviews were conducted in relation to the FWO’s operations. One outstanding matter was finalised by the Commonwealth Ombudsman in 2018–19, with no adverse findings.

In 2018–19, no formal reviews were conducted in relation to the ROC’s operations.

In 2018–19, there were no reports by the Auditor-General, the Australian National Audit Office, a parliamentary committee or the Commonwealth Ombudsman in relation to the FWO’s or ROC’s operations.

Freedom of information

FOI requests to FWO

The FWO received 50 requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in 2018–19. This compared with 60 requests received in 2017–18. The FWO's disclosure log is available at www.fairwork.gov.au. We continue to facilitate document access through our Information Access Policy, also available on our website, which reduces the need to make formal FOI requests. The FWO received 126 informal information access requests in 2018–19, compared with 125 requests in 2017–18.

FOI requests to ROC

The ROC received five requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in 2018–19. The ROC’s disclosure log, which is published on the ROC website, reports what information has been provided and how to access it.

Formal FOI requests are not required for most documents held by the ROC. Most documents lodged by registered organisations are publicly available on the ROC website.

Information Publication Scheme

We are required to publish information to the public as part of the FOI Act Information Publication Scheme (IPS). This requirement is in Part II of the FOI Act and has replaced the former requirement to publish a section 8 statement in annual reports. Each agency must display a plan on its website showing what information it publishes in accordance with IPS requirements. The FWO’s plan can be found on www.fairwork.gov.au and the ROC’s plan can be found on www.roc.gov.au. The plans set out what information is published under the IPS, how and to whom it is published, and how we otherwise comply with IPS requirements.

Privacy

We are committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who provide us with their personal information and ensuring staff know what to do in the event of a suspected privacy breach. We have continued to undertake privacy impact assessments for new projects and processes.

The FWO reported no privacy breaches to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in 2018–19. Two privacy complaints about the FWO were reported to OAIC in 2018–19. There were no adverse findings in one matter, and the other matter remains outstanding.

The ROC reported no privacy breaches to the OAIC during the year, compared with one matter reported in 2017–18.

Judicial decisions or administrative reviews

There were no judicial decisions, or decisions of administrative tribunals or the Australian Information Commissioner, that have had a significant effect on the operations of the FWO or ROC in 2018–19.

Regulator Performance Framework

Under the Regulator Performance Framework, the FWO’s and the ROC’s performance was measured against six key performance indicators in 2018–19. These measures involved reducing regulatory burden, communications, risk-based and proportionate approaches, efficient and coordinated monitoring, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Publicly reporting on the FWO’s and the ROC’s contributions to reducing unnecessary or inefficient regulation will give the community further confidence in the FWO’s and the ROC’s work. FWO’s reports are available on the FWO website. The ROC’s first Regulator Performance Framework report was for the period 2017-18. This report will be published on the ROC’s website once approved.