About us

The Industrial Court of Queensland (Court) is a superior court of record. The Court hears appeals on error of law or lack or excess of jurisdiction against decisions of the Commission, Industrial Registrar or an Industrial Magistrate.

The Court is constituted by the President, Vice President or the Deputy President.  The Members of the Court are as follows:

President	The Hon. Justice Peter Davis
Vice President	Vice President Daniel L. O'Connor OAM
Deputy President	Deputy President John W. Merrell
Deputy President	Deputy President Catherine M. Hartigan

The President of the Court is also President of the Commission. The President may preside on a Full Bench of the Commission and, for certain matters, the Full Bench must include the President.

An appeal against a decision of the President may be made to the Court of Appeal. An appeal against a decision of a Full Bench which included the President also lies with the Court of Appeal.

The Commission is an independent tribunal. It is a court of record whose powers and functions derive from Chapter 11, Part 2 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016.

The Commission plays a major role in contributing to the social and economic well-being of people throughout Queensland through furthering the objects of the legislation, which is principally to provide a framework for industrial relations that is fair and balanced and supports the delivery of high-quality services, economic prosperity and social justice for Queenslanders.

There are currently nine Members of the Commission. The Commission is headed by the President, who is also the President of the Industrial Court of Queensland. The Commission is additionally comprised of the Vice President, Deputy President and six Industrial Commissioners. The current Members of the Commissioner are: 

President	The Hon. Justice Peter Davis
Vice President	Vice President Daniel L. O'Connor OAM
Deputy President	Deputy President John W. Merrell
Deputy President	Deputy President Catherine M. Hartigan
Commissioners	Industrial Commissioner Minna L. Knight Industrial Commissioner Samantha C. Pidgeon Industrial Commissioner John C. Dwyer Industrial Commissioner Jacqueline M. Power Industrial Commissioner Roslyn D. H. McLennan

The President is responsible for administration of the Commission including allocation of all matters, references to a Full Bench, and general conduct of Commission business.

The Commission has powers and functions under various enactments:

• Anti-Discrimination Act 1991
• Building and Construction Industry (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 1991
• Child Employment Act 2006
• Community Services Industry (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2020
• Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2005
• Further Education and Training Act 2014
• Human Rights Act 2019
• Industrial Relations Act 2016
• Local Government Act 2009
• Magistrates Courts Act 1921
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010
• Public Sector Act 2022
• Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003

Through this legislation, the Commission's jurisdiction includes:

• wage recovery;
• industrial disputes involving state and local government employees;
• unfair dismissals and reinstatement applications for state and local government employees;
• awards and agreements;
• workers' compensation appeals';
• work-related anti-discrimination referrals and complaints;
• public sector appeals;
• trading hours;
• work, health and safety disputes and reviews;
• long service leave payment applications; and
• other matters prescribed under various acts.

The Commission hears matters in locations throughout Queensland.

The Industrial Registry is the Registry for the Court and Commission.  The Industrial Registry is also the Registry for the Industrial Magistrates Court in relation to Fair Work Claims only.

The Industrial Registry provides high level administrative support to the Court, Commission and Industrial Registrar. All applications, appeals, forms, documents and material for Court and Commission matters are filed in the Industrial Registry.

The Industrial Registrar also has important functions and powers with regard to registered industrial organisations in accordance with Chapter 12 of the Industrial Relations Act 2016, which includes governing the affairs of industrial organisations, for example, their financial accountability and annual returns, applications to change their rules or requests for elections.

Industrial Registry staff are not permitted to give legal advice.  Staff cannot provide advice as to whether a specific claim/application/appeal should be commenced or what specific information to include in a claim/application/appeal.  Enquiries with staff should be limited to matters relating to practice, procedure and process.  Much of the information that can be provided by staff is also publicly available on the website and it is recommended that parties consider these for any resources they seek prior to contacting the Industrial Registry. For more information, please refer to the Communication Guideline.

The reception of the Industrial Registry is open from 8.30am to 4.45pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays and the compulsory Christmas to New Year closure).

Documents can be filed electronically at any time, however if sent after hours they will be accepted as being filed the next business day.  You will be unable to file documents on public holidays, or closures, or outside of office hours.

If you are filing a document by email and what you are filing is over 30 pages, the Industrial Registry requires you to also provide a hard copy of the document (see Practice Direction 3 of the 2021 - Electronic Filing and Hard Copies of documents).