In January 2020, the Fair Work Ombudsman was recognised and awarded as meeting the Best Practice standards.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has been accredited as a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace since 2010.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is an independent statutory office. Our jurisdiction is set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 and our services are free to all workers and employers in Australia.
Our purpose is to promote harmonious, productive, cooperative, and compliant workplace relations in Australia. Our functions outline the responsibilities we have as set by the Fair Work Act 2009 to achieve our purpose:
- Provide education, assistance, advice, and guidance to employers, employees, outworkers, outworker entities, and organisations.
- Promote and monitor compliance with workplace laws.
- Inquire into and investigate breaches of the Fair Work Act.
- Take appropriate enforcement action.
- Perform our statutory functions efficiently, effectively, economically, and ethically.
The FWO is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion by fostering a supportive, respectful, and engaging work environment for our employees. We have been accredited as a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace since 2011, recognising that we are an equitable, flexible, and family friendly workplace that supports employees who choose to combine work and breastfeeding commitments. We are committed to gender equality, and in 2025 the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reported our pay gap as 1.6%, which is significantly less than the Australia Public Service average of 5.4%.
We offer a genuine commitment to flexible work arrangements that help our employees achieve a work-life balance. We have a range of family-friendly entitlements and benefits, such as:
- Part-time work and flexible working hours
- Working from home - we don’t impose caps on the amount of time our employees can request to work from home
- Parental leave (including primary and secondary caregiver, and adoption and foster care)
- Paid lactation breaks
- An ability to purchase additional leave
- Free and confidential counselling for employees and their immediate family when they need help through our Employee Assistance Program.
The FWO has offices in all capital cities and 14 regional locations across Australia. For further information, including employment opportunities, please visit our website.