The applicant identifies himself as a volunteer in his own material submitted to the Commission when he initiated this claim. There are several other indicia that the Commission would consider in determining the status of the applicant, which the Respondent will make submissions on when appropriate."

[5] On the basis of the information contained in his application and the objections raised by NSW SES, correspondence was sent to Mr Grafton on 7 July 2017 requiring a response from him in relation to the jurisdictional objections within 14 days. Mr Grafton was advised that the Commission may consider dismissing the application in the absence of any submissions being received from him.

[6] At 11.37 PM on 20 July 2017, Mr Grafton sent an email to the Commission in which he said: 'I will be responding to your email next week'. The Commission replied to Mr Grafton's email on the morning of 21 July 2017 that he should 'respond no later than close of business today'. No response was received.

[7] On 26 July 2017, Mr Grafton was given one further opportunity to provide a response, and was asked to provide it by 4:00 pm on 27 July 2017. Mr Grafton was advised that his application may be dismissed if no response was received by 4:00 pm on Thursday 27 July 2017. Again no response was received from Mr Grafton by the stipulated date.

[8] On 28 July 2017, I issued an order dismissing Mr Grafton's application. Below are the reasons for my decision.

[9] The unfair dismissal provisions under the Act are contained in Part 3-2. The meanings of employee and employee for the purposes of Part 3-2 are provided in s.380 of the Act:

"In this part, employee means a national system employee, and employer means a national system employer."

[10] Section 13 of the Act defines a national system employee:

A national system employee is an individual so far as he or she is employed, or usually employed, as described in the definition of national system employer in section 14, by a national system employer, except on a vocational placement.

Note: Sections 30C and 30M extend the meaning of national system employee in relation to a referring State."

[11] Section 14 of the Act defines a national system employer and relevantly provides:

Particular employers declared not to be national system employers

(2) Despite subsection (1) and sections 30D and 30N, a particular employer is not a national system employer if:

(a) that employer:

(b)

• (i) is a body established for a public purpose by or under a law of a State or Territory, by the Governor of a State, by the Administrator of a Territory or by a Minister of a State or Territory; or

[12] The NSW SES, established in 1955, is a New South Wales State Government Agency and is operated under the State Emergency Service Act 1989. I am therefore satisfied that it is not a national system employer. It follows that Mr Grafton cannot be a national system employee.

[13] Having considered the circumstances of this matter, I am satisfied that the Commission has no jurisdiction to determine Mr Grafton's application. Mr Grafton is not a national system employee and NSW SES is not a national system employer within the meanings of ss.13 and 14 and for the purposes of Part 3-2 of the Act.

[14] Section 587(1) of the Act provides:

(1) Without limiting when the FWC may dismiss an application, the FWC may dismiss an application if:

(a) the application is not made in accordance with this Act; or

(c) the application has no reasonable prospects of success."

[15] For the reasons set out above, I have concluded that Mr Grafton's application has no reasonable prospects of success and the application is therefore dismissed pursuant to s.587(1)(c) of the Act

[16] An Order dismissing Mr Grafton's application was issued on 28 July 2017[1].

[1] PR594947

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