Thousands of anonymous tip-offs about potentially unlawful workplace practices are being issued to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
The FWO has received more than 90,000 anonymous tip-offs since it launched its Anonymous Report tool in 2016, with almost 13,000 in 2021-22.
Hospitality, retail and health services are the leading sectors for tip-offs.
The most common issues reported were working excessive hours without compensation, workers being paid ‘cash in hand’, or workers being paid less than an industry award or the National Minimum Wage.
In addition to tip-offs from members of the public, anonymous reporting provides an option for workers to raise issues with the FWO while choosing not to identify themselves.
This includes options to provide anonymous reports directly in 16 languages other than English. In 2021-22, reports in Simplified Chinese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese were the most common after English.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said tip-offs provided valuable intelligence.
“The Fair Work Ombudsman uses intelligence from tip-offs to help gain insight into Australian workplaces, shape our education materials and inform compliance activities,” Parker said. "They are a vital tool in helping us to monitor for workplace breaches and take targeted action where needed.”