Contrition payments recipients

Organisations that help build workplace relations compliance may be eligible to receive contrition payments to support their initiatives.

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Contrition payments

Every year we recover money for underpaid employees through our compliance and enforcement activities. This includes money recovered through Enforceable Undertakings (EU).

An employer may make a contrition payment as a term of an EU to demonstrate remorse for a wrongdoing. Depending on the circumstances, a payment can be made to either or both:

  • the Australian Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund
  • one or more recipient organisations (as approved by us).

Recipient organisations

We accept expressions of interest from organisations that meet the eligibility criteria and seek our approval to become recipient organisations.

Recipient organisations are not guaranteed to receive contrition payments. Organisations that meet eligibility criteria will be added to a register of organisations. This register is provided to an employer who agrees to make a contrition payment as a term of an EU.

Being a recipient organisation means an organisation has agreed to:

  • only use contrition payments to administer a relevant program or initiative
  • provide a brief annual statement to us each financial year detailing how the contrition payment was used
  • notify us as soon as possible of any changes in circumstances that may affect the organisation’s eligibility.

There is a limit on the total amount of contrition payments a recipient organisation can receive in any financial year.

By facilitating contrition payments to recipient organisations, we support initiatives that promote compliance with workplace laws.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, an organisation must meet all following criteria:

  • be located in Australia with an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • have an Australian bank account
  • administer a relevant industry-led program or initiative
  • not be solely or principally reliant on receiving contrition payments as a source of funding
  • be compliant with workplace laws.

Industry-led program or initiative

A relevant program or initiative is one led by industry participants. It promotes harmonious, productive and cooperative workplace relations and sustainable compliance with workplace laws in a particular industry sector or sub-sector.

Relevant programs or initiatives may:

  • increase awareness and understanding of workplace standards
  • improve supply chain accountability and transparency
  • offer certification, accreditation or recognition programs
  • promote and or facilitate worker voice mechanisms.

Expressions of interest

Organisations that believe they are eligible may submit expressions of interest by:

Submissions must address all eligibility criteria and be made by a person authorised to act on behalf of the organisation.

We assess all submissions and decide if an organisation is eligible to become a recipient organisation.

As part of our assessment, we may ask the organisation for further evidence to help us assess eligibility. We’ll consider information provided by the organisation as well as information from other sources available to us.

We assess all submissions on an individual basis.

Providing false or misleading information

You may be liable to a civil penalty under the Fair Work Act if you knowingly or recklessly give false or misleading information or produce false or misleading documents to us. We may remove an organisation from the register if we’ve been given false or misleading information or if important information has been deliberately omitted.

Frequently asked questions

Find answers to common questions in our Frequently asked questions about contrition payments   resource.

Assessment and approval

After we receive an expression of interest, we’ll acknowledge receipt. We’ll also contact the organisation to let them know the outcome of our assessment and whether we have approved them as a recipient organisation.

If approved, further information will be provided to the recipient organisation about the contrition payment process.

We may withdraw our approval at any time if an organisation is no longer eligible or suitable to be a recipient organisation.

Tools and resources

Related information