Matthew O'Sullivan v Sydney Water Corporation
[2022] FWC 1147
•13 MAY 2022
| [2022] FWC 1147 |
| FAIR WORK COMMISSION |
| DECISION |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.394—Unfair dismissal
Matthew O’Sullivan
v
Sydney Water Corporation
(U2022/4584)
| COMMISSIONER BISSETT | MELBOURNE, 13 MAY 2022 |
Application for relief from unfair dismissal – unpaid application – dismissal under s.587 at the Commission’s initiative.
On 20 April 2022 Mr Matthew O'Sullivan made an application to the Fair Work Commission for a remedy for unfair dismissal pursuant to s.394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act).
The application was incomplete in that Mr O'Sullivan did not pay the required fee or file a completed waiver form.
On 21 April 2022 the Commission attempted to contact Mr O'Sullivan on his nominated telephone number to discuss payment of the required fee. Mr O'Sullivan advised that he was in a public area and was not able to process the fee. Mr O'Sullivan was advised that unpaid correspondence would be issued with the Commission contact details.
Later that day the Commission emailed correspondence to Mr O'Sullivan’s nominated email address advising that his application required payment of the filing fee or a completed waiver form if he wished to proceed with the application. That correspondence also warned that if payment is not made or a waiver form is not received within 14 days, the application may be dismissed.
A final attempt to contact Mr O'Sullivan was made by the Commission on 5 May 2022 to obtain payment or a completed waiver form. The call was not answered and a voicemail message was left advising Mr O'Sullivan that payment of the required fee was still outstanding and if the Commission does not receive payment or a completed waiver by end of business on 5 May 2022 the matter will be referred to Member and may be dismissed. The matter number was quoted and the Commission’s helpline number provided.
To date there has been no response from Mr O'Sullivan, the required fee has not been paid and a completed waiver form has not been received.
Section 395 of the FW Act, which deals with application fees, provides as follows:
395 Application fees
(1) An application to the FWC under this Division must be accompanied by any fee prescribed by the regulations.
(2) The regulations may prescribe:
(a) a fee for making an application to the FWC under this Division; and
(b) a method for indexing the fee; and
(c) the circumstances in which all or part of the fee may be waived or refunded.
Section 587(1) of the FW Act provides:
587 Dismissing applications
(1) Without limiting when the FWC may dismiss an application, the FWC may dismiss an application if:
(a) the application is not made in accordance with this Act; or
(b) the application is frivolous or vexatious; or
(c) the application has no reasonable prospect of success.
Having regard to the circumstances of this matter, I am satisfied that as the application was not accompanied by the fee prescribed by the FW Act, the application was not made in accordance with the FW Act. As such, the application is dismissed pursuant to s.587(1)(a) of the FW Act. An order[1] to this effect will be issued with this decision.
COMMISSIONER
[1] PR741567.
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