You can ask the committee to help put your own complaint in writing. Section 9 expressly requires reasonable assistance where the complaint cannot be made in writing. If physical incapacity prevents you from making it yourself, section 9(2) and Rule 6 provide specified substitute-filing routes. Needing an interpreter or accessible document does not mean you must surrender control of your account.
Am I asking for assistance or for someone else to file?
Start with that distinction. Assistance allows you to make and adopt your own complaint in an accessible way. Someone may type what you dictate, translate it or help arrange the incidents chronologically. The final account should reflect your instructions, and you should be able to check and correct it before adoption.
Substitute filing is different. Rule 6(i) addresses inability to make a complaint because of physical incapacity and identifies a relative or friend, a co-worker, an officer of the National or State Women's Commission, or another person with knowledge of the incident and your written consent. The exact category and requirements should be recorded. Do not let a generic authorisation letter conceal which statutory route is being used.
Physical disability does not automatically establish mental incapacity. Rule 6(ii) has a separate framework for that situation. A committee should not move a person into that route merely because communication takes more time or uses a different method.
What should my accessibility request say?
Identify the barrier and the adjustment needed. For example: "I wish to make and confirm my own complaint. I need the draft in an accessible electronic format and a communication interpreter for the meeting. Please arrange reasonable assistance under section 9 and confirm how I can review the record before signing." Adapt the request to your actual needs.
You can also ask who will provide the assistance, how confidentiality will be maintained and whether the same person can attend the relevant meetings. Avoid an unnecessary demand for your entire medical history. Explain the functional difficulty and provide supporting information where it is needed to arrange the assistance or establish the chosen Rule 6 route.
If you need a trusted person to assist, disclose that person's role. A support person, interpreter, witness and representative are not interchangeable. If the person also witnessed events, ask the committee how their evidence will be taken separately so the record remains clear.
What must remain accurate in the written complaint?
Your account should identify the conduct, dates, workplace connection and persons involved. Mark uncertain dates as approximate. Have the text read back or supplied in an accessible form. Confirm that a translation preserves the words and meaning you intended, including any words whose precise meaning matters to the allegation.
Keep a copy of the version you adopted and the covering request for assistance. If you cannot use the standard signing method, ask the committee to confirm an accessible method of authentication and preserve how your consent was recorded. Do not let someone sign your name as though you physically signed it.
Does requesting assistance stop the filing clock?
No automatic suspension should be assumed. Section 9 ordinarily provides three months from the incident or the last incident in a series. The committee can extend by up to a further three months for recorded reasons if circumstances prevented filing. Send the initial request promptly, explain any access barrier and ask expressly for an extension if required.
A brief message identifying that you wish to complain and need help can create an important record, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed substitute for a complete statutory complaint in every case. Follow through with the committee and retain its reply. Where the deadline is close and the committee remains silent, seek assistance from the appropriate authority or an advocate immediately.
What happens during the inquiry?
Ask for the same communication needs to be addressed in notices, questions and the hearing record. Rule 7 requires natural justice. It also bars parties from bringing a legal practitioner to represent them before the committee. An accessibility request should be assessed for its actual purpose rather than casually treated as an attempt to bring a lawyer into the hearing.
After each meeting, check the recorded account through the agreed accessible method and identify errors promptly. Preserve notices and requests for adjustments. If a meeting is listed in a form you cannot access, explain the problem before the date and propose a workable alternative. Simply missing hearings without explaining the barrier can create a preventable procedural dispute.
The immediate next step is a short written assistance request, followed by a complaint you have actually checked. The objective is an accurate account given through a process you can use, with a clear distinction between assistance and substitute filing.
For the general route, see our POSH complaint guide. The employment and labour practice page covers the related employment issues.