Employment law in Victoria

• Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) (VIC)

  Sets long service leave for most Victorian workers. Leave accrues progressively at one week for every 60 weeks of continuous employment, and an employee may take long service leave after completing seven years of continuous employment with one employer. If employment ends after seven years, accrued but untaken long service leave must be paid out.

• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) (VIC)

  Prohibits discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation in employment on attributes including sex, gender identity, race, disability, age, carer status, parental status, pregnancy, religious belief and industrial activity. It also imposes a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment.

• Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) (VIC)

  Requires labour hire providers operating in Victoria to hold a licence and to satisfy a fit and proper person test and workplace compliance obligations. Hosts must only use licensed providers and face serious penalties if they engage an unlicensed one, which gives labour hire workers an additional avenue when they are underpaid or mistreated. Changes that took effect on 1 June 2026 made the fit and proper person test stricter and require providers to show they are financially viable.

• Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 (Vic) (VIC)

  Establishes Victoria's portable long service benefits scheme for the community services, contract cleaning and security industries, so that service counts across employers within the covered industry. The scheme is administered by the Portable Long Service Authority.

• Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) (VIC)

  Governs employment in the Victorian public sector, including public sector values, employment principles, executive employment and the role of the Victorian Public Sector Commission. It is the framework that applies to the senior Victorian public servants who sit outside the national system.

• Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (CTH)

  The statute that covers almost every Victorian employee. It contains the National Employment Standards, modern awards and enterprise agreements, unfair dismissal, the general protections, stop bullying and stop sexual harassment orders, the sexual harassment provisions in Part 3-5A, and the underpayment, penalty and small claims regime.

• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (CTH)

  The federal sexual harassment and sex discrimination law, providing an alternative to the Victorian equal opportunity system through the Australian Human Rights Commission and the federal courts.

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (CTH)

  Makes disability discrimination unlawful in Victorian workplaces and requires reasonable adjustments unless they would impose unjustifiable hardship.

• Fair Work Commission (Melbourne registry)

  Hears unfair dismissal, general protections, bullying, sexual harassment and award and agreement disputes for Victorian employees, and holds conciliation conferences by telephone.

• Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Fair Work Division)

  Hears general protections court applications and underpayment claims for Victorian workers, including small claims of $100,000 or less.

• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)

  Hears discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation claims under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), and reviews decisions under the Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018 (Vic).

• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission

  Receives and conciliates workplace discrimination and sexual harassment complaints at no cost, and can investigate systemic issues.

• Workforce Inspectorate Victoria

  Victoria's regulator for long service leave, child employment, and owner driver and forestry contractor laws. It was called Wage Inspectorate Victoria until 12 December 2025.

• Labour Hire Authority

  Licenses and regulates labour hire providers in Victoria and takes enforcement action against unlicensed providers and non-compliant hosts.

• Supreme Court of Victoria

  Hears restraint of trade injunctions, confidential information cases and larger employment contract disputes; smaller contract claims go to the Magistrates' Court or County Court of Victoria.

1. 01Confirm you are a national system employee

   Almost all Victorian employees are. Check whether you are a state public sector employee at executive or higher managerial level or a law enforcement officer, because those roles sit outside the Fair Work system.

   Typical timeframe: 1 day

2. 02Diarise the 21-day deadline and collect documents

   Work out the date the dismissal took effect and count 21 days from the day after. Gather your contract, payslips, termination letter, warnings and relevant messages.

   Typical timeframe: 2-5 days

3. 03Get help

   Contact JobWatch, your union, Victoria Legal Aid or a lawyer. The Fair Work Commission also arranges free legal help, when appointments are available, for eligible people with a dismissal, general protections, bullying or sexual harassment issue. To be eligible as an employee you must not already have a lawyer or paid agent and must not be a union member. Using that service does not start an application, so the 21-day deadline keeps running.

   Typical timeframe: First week

4. 04Lodge with the Fair Work Commission

   File the correct form online and pay the application fee, or apply for a waiver on hardship grounds. The Commission serves the employer, which files a response raising any jurisdictional objection.

   Typical timeframe: Within 21 days of dismissal

5. 05Conciliation

   A confidential, voluntary conciliation with a Commission conciliator, usually by phone or video. The Commission reports that around three quarters of unfair dismissal cases settle at or before conciliation, often for a payment plus a statement of service.

   Typical timeframe: Usually a few weeks after lodgement

6. 06Determination or certificate

   An unfair dismissal matter that does not settle goes to a hearing before a Member. A general protections matter that does not settle results in a certificate, and you then have 14 days after the certificate is issued to start court proceedings, or for both sides to notify the Commission that they agree to arbitration, unless a longer period is allowed.

   Typical timeframe: Often several months if a hearing is needed

7. 07Enforcement or appeal

   Orders for compensation or reinstatement can be enforced in court. An appeal needs the Commission's permission, and the notice of appeal must be lodged within 21 days after the decision is issued. Extensions are not granted as a matter of course.

   Typical timeframe: Variable

The Fair Work Commission application fee for unfair dismissal, general protections and stop bullying applications is $92.70, the 2026-27 fee that applies from 1 July 2026 and changes each 1 July. The fee can be waived if paying it would cause serious financial hardship. Each party normally pays its own costs in the Commission, and costs orders against applicants are rare and generally limited to applications made vexatiously, without reasonable cause or with no reasonable prospect of success, or unreasonable acts that cause the other side expense. Underpayment proceedings under the Fair Work Act also run under a no-costs rule, and the small claims procedure for amounts of $100,000 or less is built for people without lawyers. Complaints to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission are free, and VCAT is a no-costs jurisdiction as a starting point. The exception is ordinary court litigation: restraint of trade injunctions and contract claims in the Supreme Court or County Court of Victoria carry a real costs risk because costs generally follow the event. Some employment lawyers offer a fixed fee for representation at conciliation, and some act on a deferred or no-win-no-fee basis for stronger dismissal claims, so ask about fees at the start.