Work for the WA government or a council? Your rules and deadlines are different.

Government trading enterprises catch people out. A body that is incorporated and trades can be a trading corporation, and so a national system employer, even though the State owns it. Fair Work Commission decisions have treated Western Power and the Water Corporation as national system employers — which means a 21-day Fair Work deadline, not the WAIRC's 28 days. Each body has to be checked on its own facts; if yours is one of these, check before relying on the WA rules. For the full picture, see the WA state system.

So any form, precedent or article that tells you to appeal to the Public Service Appeal Board is out of date. The Board's past decisions are still useful for what they say about misconduct and fair outcomes, but not about where to go. From 1 July 2025 the WAIRC also gained jurisdiction over breach of public sector standards claims, which previously went to the Public Sector Commissioner.

The process

1. The employer decides, in writing, to deal with a suspected breach as a disciplinary matter — or to take improvement action, or no action.
2. You must be told in writing what conduct is alleged, in enough detail to understand it, and that the outcome may range from counselling to dismissal.
3. You must get a reasonable opportunity to respond, in person or in writing, and be told you can bring a support person or representative.
4. The employer isn't bound by the rules of evidence. If it finds a breach, it must tell you what action it proposes and give you a chance to respond to that too, then tell you the outcome.

Disciplinary action or improvement action — the word matters

Read the outcome letter closely. A reprimand is disciplinary action and you can refer it within 28 days, even though you keep your job. A warning is improvement action and you can't.

Suspension

Once a disciplinary process has started, or if you're charged with a serious offence, you can be suspended on full pay, partial pay or without pay (s 82). Only a suspension on partial pay or without pay can be referred by you to the WAIRC. A suspension on full pay can't be, though a union can raise it as an industrial matter.

Substandard performance

Performance is substandard if you don't reach a standard that can reasonably be expected in your role, judged against your duty statement, selection criteria and written work standards (s 79). If you don't admit it, the employer must investigate first. It can then withhold an increment, reduce your classification or end your employment. The demotion and the termination can be referred to the WAIRC; the withheld increment can't. Ordinary day-to-day performance management is different, and is covered by the Performance Management Standard (see standards claims below).

Not referable by you: a warning or other improvement action, a withheld increment, a suspension on full pay, the decision to start a disciplinary process, anything about a department's chief executive, and the automatic termination at the end of a redeployment period.

The Commission can accept a late referral if it would be unfair not to, but don't plan on it. On a Part 5 disciplinary referral, first-instance decisions have treated it as a fresh hearing in which the Commission decides for itself whether the misconduct happened, rather than just reviewing the employer's decision. That hasn't yet been settled on appeal, and the most recent decision to reinstate on that basis was under appeal and stayed as at September 2026. The Commission hasn't yet decided whether both routes are open for a Part 5 dismissal, and some applicants refer under both in the alternative. If it's unclear whether your dismissal was under Part 5, consider getting professional advice on whether to do the same.

Remedies. On a dismissal the Commission can order reinstatement, re-employment or compensation, capped at six months' remuneration — that is the current first-instance reading, and whether its wider powers also apply to a dismissal hasn't been settled. For other disciplinary decisions, where the employer didn't follow the required procedure or procedural fairness, it can quash the decision, send it back, or order the process to restart from a particular stage — or decide the matter on its merits.

1. Lodge a written claim with your agency, stating your grounds. For a grievance outcome: within 10 business days of the notice. For most other decisions: within 10 business days of becoming aware of it, or 30 business days after it was made, whichever is earlier. Recruitment claims can have as little as 4 business days. Business days exclude weekends and public holidays.
2. The agency has 21 days to try to resolve it, starting the day after you lodged.
3. If it's not resolved, you can refer it to the WAIRC on Form 24 within 28 days after that 21-day period ends.

Every step is part of what makes a valid claim. The WAIRC has dismissed a grievance standards claim for want of jurisdiction because no grievance had been lodged in the first place. A claim lodged late with the agency, without the Commissioner's written approval, may not be saved later.

• If your position is abolished or you're surplus, you must be given written notice and may be transferred within your department at the same or an equivalent level.
• You may be offered voluntary severance: three weeks' pay per complete year of service, capped at 52 weeks, with an extra payment for resigning quickly. You must get at least 8 weeks to decide.
• If you're registered for redeployment, the redeployment period is 6 months. Offers must be of suitable employment — broadly, work you can do, that doesn't require you to move house, at 80% to 110% of your former maximum pay.
• If you're not redeployed, your employment ends automatically the day after the period ends. That termination can't be challenged, but a decision about your redundancy pay can be, within 21 days.

Senior staff and CEOs should check the salary bar first. If no award or agreement applies to you and your contract salary is above $212,800 (the WAIRC Registrar's guide figure from 1 July 2026), the WAIRC can't decide an unfair dismissal claim or a denied contractual benefits claim. The Local Government Act 1995 (WA) also sets its own rules: a CEO can be terminated only by an absolute-majority council resolution with written reasons, and a performance-based termination needs a performance review in the previous 12 months. A CEO can't dismiss a senior employee unless the council has been told and has accepted the recommendation.