Over 2012-13, FWBC received 1657 enquiries with 972 enquires or 59 per cent being received via the 1800 hotline.
Issues raised by enquiries
A single enquiry can often involve a number of issues. Table 2.2 shows a breakdown of the issues that were raised through enquiries during the year.
During 2012-13, the highest number of enquires FWBC received related to wages and entitlements, accounting for 18 per cent of all enquiries and reflects FWBC’s activities on recovering unpaid wages and entitlements for workers. Building Code enquiries, accounted for 12 per cent of enquiries. While FWBC was only in operation for one month of the 2011-12 financial year, the current financial year data is consistent with the data from last year when averaged over a period of twelve months.
TABLE 2.1 NUMBER AND METHOD OF ENQUIRY TO FWBC
Enquiry |
1 July 2012 to |
FWBC hotline |
972 |
Direct enquiry to FWBI Inspector |
256 |
FWBC website |
148 |
FWBC email |
124 |
Workplace complaint form |
27 |
FWO AVR process |
25 |
|
7 |
Fax |
2 |
Other |
96 |
Total |
1657 |
TABLE 2.2 ISSUES RAISED BY ENQUIRIES
Enquiry Issues |
1 June 2012 to |
1 July 2012 to |
Wages and entitlements |
20 |
333 |
Agreements |
2 |
24 |
Code or code compliance |
22 |
212 |
Coercion |
6 |
28 |
Discrimination |
3 |
9 |
Domestic building |
8 |
54 |
Fair Work Act general protections |
2 |
165 |
Freedom of association |
1 |
39 |
General FWBC information |
18 |
230 |
Independent contractor |
10 |
115 |
Industrial action |
5 |
138 |
Licensing / permits |
3 |
6 |
OHS |
2 |
33 |
Other |
10 |
136 |
Other federal agency |
6 |
92 |
Other state agency |
5 |
47 |
Right of entry |
5 |
81 |
Strike pay |
1 |
9 |
Targeted audit |
0 |
12 |
Union behaviour |
17 |
83 |
Total |
146 |
1846 |
TABLE 2.3 ENQUIRY OUTCOMES
Enquiry outcomes |
Number |
Information provided |
973 |
Referred to other agency |
35 |
Referred to federal agency |
152 |
Referred to state agency |
82 |
Unable to provide assistance |
57 |
Upgrade to investigation |
351 |
Initiated targeted audit |
7 |
Total |
1657 |
Responding to enquiries
During the reporting period, FWBC responded to 91 per cent of enquiries within three working days.
Activities generated by enquiries
Table 2.3 sets out the outcome of enquiries. In 59 per cent of cases FWBC answered the enquiry through the provision of information. Twenty-one per cent of enquiries led to an investigation and FWBC referred 16 per cent of enquiries to other agencies.
TABLE 2.4 INFORMAL REFERRALS
Informal referrals |
1 June 2012 to |
1 July 2012 to |
State Agencies: domestic building, licensing |
7 |
39 |
Code assessment and website |
2 |
36 |
OHS Agencies: safety, OHS training cards ‘red’, etc |
2 |
17 |
Workplace agencies: wages, unlawful or unfair employment |
2 |
10 |
Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) |
2 |
79 |
Long service leave |
0 |
9 |
Subcontractors payment (subject to state law), riggers, crane licensing |
1 |
14 |
Australian Apprenticeships Referral Line |
0 |
8 |
Employer associations |
0 |
3 |
Australian Tax Office (ATO) |
2 |
7 |
Australian Securities and Investments Commission |
0 |
2 |
Other |
1 |
45 |
Total |
19 |
269 |
TABLE 2.5 FORMAL REFERRALS
Formal referrals |
1 July 2012 to |
Referrals to the FWO |
1 |
Referrals to the ATO regarding non-payment or underpayment of superannuation |
8 |
Referrals to Workcover NSW regarding workplace health and safety issues |
1 |
Qld office state revenue referral |
1 |
Referral to Magistrates’ Court of Victoria – Small Claims Tribunal (Industrial Division) |
1 |
Total |
12 |
Informal referrals
Enquiries that are beyond FWBC’s jurisdiction are categorised as informal if they are referred before an investigation has started.
Table 2.4 sets out details of the informal referrals FWBC made to 30 June 2013. FWBC referred 269 enquiries to other state and federal agencies during the reporting period. The majority of these were referred to the FWO as they related to domestic building (where the complainant works on projects where there are fewer than five dwellings) as opposed to commercial construction.