Industrial Relations Act 1996

Subject to the rules of the Commission and any other Act or law—

the Commission may award costs, and

costs are in the discretion of the Commission, and

the Commission may determine by whom and to what extent costs are to be paid, and

the Commission may order costs to be assessed on the basis set out in the legal costs legislation (as defined in section 3A of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014) or on any other basis.

However, the Commission, when it is not in Court Session, may award costs only in the following cases—

the Commission may award costs against an applicant if it considers that the application to it was frivolous or vexatious, or

the Commission may award costs against a party to proceedings who, in the opinion of the Commission, instituted proceedings without reasonable cause, or

the Commission may award costs against a party to proceedings under Part 6 of Chapter 2 (Unfair dismissals) who, in the opinion of the Commission, unreasonably failed to agree to a settlement of the claim or whose application was frivolous or vexatious, or

the Commission may award costs against an industrial agent representing an applicant or employer in proceedings under Part 6 of Chapter 2 if—

the industrial agent fails to file a certificate as required by section 90A, or

the Commission finds that the industrial agent has filed a certificate under that section certifying that the agent has reasonable grounds for believing, on the basis of provable facts, that the applicant’s claim or employer’s response to the claim had reasonable prospects of success when the agent did not have reasonable grounds for believing, on the basis of provable facts, that it had reasonable prospects of success, or

the Commission may award costs in proceedings for a breach of an industrial instrument or the recovery of money under Chapter 7, as provided by sections 357 and 373.

The Commission in Court Session may not award costs in proceedings for a contravention of a dispute order or proceedings under Chapter 5, Part 4, Division 2.

Despite subsection (1), the Commission may not award costs in proceedings under Part 7 of Chapter 2.

In this section, costs includes—

costs of or incidental to proceedings in the Commission, and

in the case of an appeal to the Commission, the costs of or incidental to the proceedings giving rise to the appeal, as well as the costs of or incidental to the appeal.