It started as comments. Then messages after hours. Then the hand on your back in the kitchen, and the joke in front of the team when you moved away. You told your manager. HR said they’d “have a word”. The person is still there, still rostered next to you, and now there’s a coolness from the people who used to back you up.
Sexual harassment at work is unlawful under federal law and under the anti-discrimination Act of every state and territory. You do not need the employer’s permission to complain externally, and you do not need a lawyer to lodge. What you need is a complaint statement that sets out the dated incidents, names the law breached, and asks for a specific outcome, and a decision about which of the three doors to use.
Your rights
- Sexual harassment is unlawful in connection with work. The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) prohibits it (s 28A defines it: an unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours, or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature where a reasonable person would anticipate you’d be offended, humiliated or intimidated). The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) separately prohibits sexual harassment in connection with work in Part 3-5A.
- The employer has a positive duty. Since December 2022, s 47C of the Sex Discrimination Act requires employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment. “We investigated and told him to stop” is not, on its own, the whole of that duty.
- Victimisation is a separate contravention. Being punished, rostered off, or frozen out because you complained is unlawful in its own right under every one of these Acts.
- Remedies can include an apology, policy change, training, a stop order, reinstatement, and compensation for economic loss and for hurt and distress.
The three routes and their deadlines
You must pick one forum for the same conduct; running the same complaint in two places at once is not permitted.
- Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). A complaint under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (s 46P). The Commission conciliates; if it doesn’t resolve, it terminates the complaint and you can go to the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The President may decline a complaint lodged more than 24 months after the events, so treat 24 months as the limit.
- Your state or territory anti-discrimination body. Same conduct, state Act, conciliation, then the state tribunal. The limit is 12 months in most jurisdictions and 2 years in the Australian Capital Territory (list below). Choose this route when the tribunal’s process and costs rules suit you, or when the respondent is a state body.
- Fair Work Commission. Under Part 3-5A of the Fair Work Act you can apply for an order to stop the sexual harassment (you must still be in the workplace) and/or for the Commission to deal with the dispute, including conciliation and, with consent, arbitration for compensation. Applications must be made within 24 months of the last alleged conduct. This route also suits people who’ve already left.
Ready to put it in writing?
Answer 3 quick questions to check you have the details your document needs, and see your next step.
1. Who is this about?
2. How much is at stake?
3. Do you have it in writing?
Your result is ready. Where should we send it?
By state
The federal routes are the same everywhere. If you choose the state route, the body and the time limit are:
- New South Wales. Anti-Discrimination Act 1977; complaint to Anti-Discrimination NSW within 12 months (the President can accept later complaints for good reason); unresolved complaints go to NCAT.
- Victoria. Equal Opportunity Act 2010; the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission offers dispute resolution, or you can apply directly to VCAT. VEOHRC may decline matters more than 12 months old.
- Queensland. Anti-Discrimination Act 1991; complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission within 1 year (s 138); work matters go to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, others to QCAT.
- Western Australia. Equal Opportunity Act 1984; complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission within 12 months; referral to the State Administrative Tribunal.
- South Australia. Equal Opportunity Act 1984; complaint to the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity within 12 months (s 93); referral to SACAT.
- Tasmania. Anti-Discrimination Act 1998; complaint to Equal Opportunity Tasmania within 12 months; referral to TASCAT.
- Australian Capital Territory. Discrimination Act 1991; complaint to the ACT Human Rights Commission within 2 years; referral to ACAT.
- Northern Territory. Anti-Discrimination Act 1992; complaint to the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission within 12 months; referral to NTCAT.
The Claim Done document asks your state first and drafts the complaint statement to that state’s Act, or to the federal Act, depending on the forum you choose.
What to do right now
- Write the chronology today. Each incident: date, time, place, what was said or done, who saw it, how you reacted. Memory fades and detail is what conciliators and tribunals weigh.
- Preserve everything. Screenshots of messages (with dates visible), emails, roster changes, the complaint you made to HR and any reply. Send copies to a personal email address.
- Ask a witness to write it down. A short signed statement from a colleague who saw an incident, or who you told the same day, is worth more than a later recollection.
- See your GP if it’s affecting you. A contemporaneous medical record supports any claim for hurt and distress and any workers compensation claim.
- Choose the forum and lodge inside the limit. Do not wait for the internal process to finish; it does not stop the clock on any of the three routes.
Writing a complaint statement that holds up
The statement is the case. It should identify the respondent (the employer and, where appropriate, the individual), state the attribute and area (sex; employment), set out each incident as a dated paragraph, say why the conduct meets the statutory definition, describe what you reported internally and what happened, describe the effect on you, and state the outcome sought: an apology, a written undertaking, removal from your roster line, training, a specified sum for lost income and distress. Keep it factual; the tone that persuades is calm and specific. Attach the witness statement and the message screenshots as numbered annexures.
Who to complain to
AHRC (federal, free, online form). Your state commission (above). The Fair Work Commission (Form F75 for stop-sexual-harassment or dispute applications). Report any physical assault to police. If you’ve been injured psychologically, a workers compensation claim through the employer’s insurer runs separately.
Get the complaint statement drafted — $97
Stop reading. Start doing. Claim Done drafts your Sexual Harassment Complaint Statement and Witness Statement: the dated incidents, the section breached, the internal reporting history and the outcome sought.
Draft My Harassment Complaint — $97 →
You review every word before it’s sent.
What happens when you put it in writing — properly
Same problem. What a prepared case looks like.