How to make a complaint

1. To make a complaint to the Commission you should complete the complaint form which can be found on the Commission’s website.
    
2. Your complaint must be about the conduct or capacity of a judicial officer or VCAT member.
    
   The Commission can’t investigate complaints about the correctness of a decision made by a judicial officer or VCAT member.  The Commission must dismiss complaints of this nature without taking any further action.  If you wish to challenge the correctness of a decision, you may wish to seek legal advice about whether you have appeal or review rights to a higher court.
     
3. Your complaint must relate to one of the following Victorian judicial officers or VCAT members:

• a judge of the Supreme Court or the County Court
• a magistrate of the Magistrates’ Court or Children's Court
• a coroner of the Coroners Court
• a VCAT member
• a judicial registrar of the Supreme Court, the County Court, the Magistrates’ Court, the Children’s Court or the Coroners Court

The Commission can’t investigate complaints about:

• other court or VCAT staff
• Federal courts or tribunals, such as the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)

4. The person you are complaining about must be a current judicial officer or VCAT member.  The Commission does not have jurisdiction to investigate former or retired judicial officers or VCAT members.
    
5. Your complaint form should clearly set out:

• the name of the judicial officer or VCAT member you are complaining about
• the name and location of the court related to your complaint
• the case number of the relevant court or VCAT proceeding
• the date(s) and time(s) when any conduct relevant to your complaint occurred.

6. Please provide a summary of the conduct or capacity issue you are complaining about. Your description should be specific, and include examples if relevant. For example - what did the judicial officer say or do and to who? When in the proceeding did this occur? In what context did the conduct occur?

7. Please note that the judicial officer or VCAT member you are complaining about may receive a copy of your complaint form.  Information contained in your complaint form may also be provided to the head of jurisdiction of the judicial officer or VCAT member and in certain circumstances also to the Attorney-General.  The Commission has an obligation to notify the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) about your complaint if it suspects on reasonable grounds that corrupt conduct is occurring or has occurred.
   If your complaint is a protected disclosure (whistleblower complaint) under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012 (External link) (External link) then the Commission will take steps to ensure your name and identity are not disclosed.
    
8. To make a complaint about the conduct or capacity of a judicial officer, please do so via the complaint portal. The portal is accessible via the Commission’s website at https://www.judicialcommission.vic.gov.au/complaints/complaint-form (External link).  The Commission does not accept complaints or complaint documents by email.