10.17 Complaints management

Purpose

This procedure outlines the process for responding to complaints about staff behaviour, services provided and determinations made by the department and funded services.

Key steps

  1. Intake
  2. Complaint Management process
  3. Alternative response
  4. Invesigation
  5. Internal review
  6. Privacy complaints
  7. Public Interest Disclosure
  8. Conduct and Performance Excellence (CaPE)

Standards

  1. Staff are aware of, and are guided by, the Complaints Management policy, procedure and guidelines.
  2. Clients and members of the community are informed of the department’s complaint mechanisms.
  3. Complaints are taken seriously and managed in an accountable, transparent and meaningful way according to the Complaints Management policy, procedure and guidelines.
  4. Complaints are recorded according to the department's recordkeeping policy.
  5. Complainants are kept informed about the progress of the complaint and advised of the complaint process and outcomes, including the factors that informed outcomes achieved.  
  6. Matters that fall outside of the complaints management process as outlined in the Complaints Management policy are explained to the complainant and progressed/referred accordingly.

Authority