Quality Strategy Toolkit
for Australian Disability Enterprises
and Disability Employment Services
Home » Quality Strategy Toolkit » Section 4: Complaints and referrals
Service providers have a responsibility to ensure that they create an accessible, fair and impartial complaints handling process in their organisation. They must ensure that participants/supported employees are informed of and trained in the complaints process, and are supported to use it. Where complaints about a service provider cannot be resolved satisfactorily through an internal complaints system, service providers should be aware of the available external mechanisms for appropriate complaints resolution.
Beyond the level of individual complaints, service providers should develop an organisational culture where complaints are welcomed as a way of improving service delivery. This means learning from complaints by linking complaints information into systems for organisational change, such as continuous improvement processes.
Complainants have the right and should be given the opportunity to approach external complaints processes at any stage in your resolution process. This includes for example, the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service, the National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline, the service provider's relevant funding body, the Privacy Commissioner, or the Ombudsman.
Be aware that when responding to any complaints, even in extremely frustrating and difficult situations involving unfounded allegations, your dealings with the complainant (in writing, verbally or in any other format) must adhere to the Disability Services Standards. This means that critical, hostile, judgmental or personal comments must be avoided at all times.
Principles to use when responding include:
This section provides further detail about service provider's responsibilities in these areas.
What rights can participants/supported employees reasonably expect when receiving a service?
Many of these rights are articulated in the Disability Services Standards.
| Does our service provide participants/supported employees with appropriate access to: |  |
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| Privacy, confidentiality, respect for human worth and dignity? | |
| Material security? | |
| Developmental needs and aspirations? | |
| Religious and cultural freedom? |
| Does our service provide participants/supported employees with: | |
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| Safe handling and storage of medications? | |
| Safety from abusive behaviour of other participants/supported employees and support staff? | |
| Safe and well-maintained premises? | |
| Duty of care in relation to service activities? |
| Does our service provide participants/supported employees with: | |
|---|---|
| Accurate information about our service to potential and existing participants/supported employees, including what we offers, our policies etc.? | |
| An understanding of the limits of our service and the assistance/support that will and will not be delivered to them? | |
| Individual plans to participants/supported employees, their family and advocates? | |
| Reasons in writing for decisions which affect participants/supported employees? |
| Does our service provide participants/supported employees with: | |
|---|---|
| Services, activities and products which meet their needs? | |
| Information about which life, employment and community participation skills to develop? | |
| How they will participate in your service and the community/employment? |
| Does our service: | |
|---|---|
| Meet the requirements of current legislation and standards? | |
| Meet the requirements of and continuously improve against the Disability Services Standards? | |
| Strive towards excellence and best practice? | |
| Support rather than compromise participants/supported employees rights to quality services. |
| Does our service: | |
|---|---|
| Consult with participants/supported employees informally and formally about issues that affect them? | |
| Pass the views of participants/supported employees to government or other agencies where relevant? | |
| Encourage representation and support by peers, family, friends, caseworkers or advocates? |
| Does our service: | |
|---|---|
| Inform participants/supported employees of their rights, and particularly their right to have problems solved and make complaints? | |
| Encourage participants/supported employees to ask what their rights are in any given situation? | |
| Inform participants/supported employees that they have a right to be supported when trying to solve a problem or make a complaint? | |
| Provide discussion sessions, videos, or other training activities to develop Participants/supported employees understanding of their rights? | |
| Provide basic skills development on assertive communication, and the steps to take to resolve problems or complaints? | |
| Provide details to complainants of services they can access that may assist them in representing themselves or to raise issues with your service? |
| Does our service: | |
|---|---|
| Identify how, where and when our participants/supported employees would like to participate more fully in society, through employment, community participation or other means? | |
| Provide information and help develop their knowledge about opportunities for participation, through employment or community activities? | |
| Support them in accessing relevant opportunities? | |
| Support them in understanding the rules and laws necessary for participation in society? | |
| Encourage them to be involved in issues and activities that contribute to the wellbeing of society, including volunteer work, employment and involvement on issues? |
| Does our organisation, as a service provider: | |
|---|---|
| Actively seek information from participants/supported employees about issues and problems in order to take preventative action, individually or in group meetings? | |
Seek advice from an independent person or the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service on issues that seem difficult to resolve? LINK: For more information about the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service please see Section 3 Continuous improvement - Standard 7 |
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| Have a complaints handling policy and process with determined timeframes and regular reviews? | |
| Provide regular feedback to participants/supported employees, their families and advocates about issues identified and their resolutions? |
| When there is a problem, do we encourage participants/supported employees to: | |
|---|---|
| Express their needs and concerns to us, the service provider, and tell us what solution they think is acceptable? | |
| Ask someone to advocate for them, or support them while they talk to us, the service provider? | |
| Persist until the problem is fixed? | |
Make a complaint to an appropriate external body or relevant agency if a problem is not resolved? LINK: For information on possible referrals, please see External referrals of this toolkit |
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| Follow the advice or recommendations of an external body in relation to a problem within your service? |
Part of your responsibility as a service provider is to support participants/supported employees rights by having a fair and accessible internal complaints process. The following information covers complaints handling and the features of a good complaints handling system.
Anyone with a genuine concern in the subject matter of a complaint can make a complaint, whether as a participant/supported employee or on their behalf. Your service might receive complaints from:
You should accept complaints about any aspect of your service. Complaints could involve a diverse range of issues, including:
Criminal allegations must be responded to immediately and treated as urgent. You must report the allegation to your contract manager at the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) or the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
Encourage the complainant to contact police. It is not your role to investigate criminal activity. It is the role of the police to do this sort of investigation. However, you have a duty of care to not expose the alleged victim or the alleged perpetrator to potential harm. Where safety of an individual is involved, ensure that the individual is never left alone with the alleged perpetrator in or out of work. Record the complaint in the complaints register and keep a file.
This is a brief summary of how a complaints handling system might function. More details about developing a system and the actions that should occur at each step follow.
Use the information on the following pages to either develop complaints handling policies and procedures or review your existing system.
Step one: Prepare communication and consultation
- Explain why the system is being set up. Outline the benefits for the service and participants/supported employees. An effective complaints handling system not only shows that you take participants/supported employees rights, needs and concerns seriously, but also saves management and staff time. Point out that by effectively handling a complaint, you often prevent the problem from escalating.
- Consult from the outset. Ask your staff, participants/supported employees, their families and advocates how they think the system should work, and be sure to incorporate their needs.
- Show that management supports the system (e.g. signature on documents, presence at consultations).
Step two: Develop the complaints handling policy
- This policy document sets out the overriding principles, aims and values of your system. It should not be a 'stand alone' document within your organisation. Rather, it should be compatible and work in with your other policies and procedures, which should be just as well documented and transparent.
Step three: Develop the complaints handling procedures
- The procedures are the nuts and bolts of the complaints handling system. They clearly explain the process, that is, what actually has to be done by whom and in what time frames to achieve the principles and aims that have been outlined in the policy document.
Step four: Communicate constantly with your participants/supported employees and staff about the system, and what you learn from the system.
- Ensure the system is accessible to all of your stakeholders.
- Use the system and patterns of outcomes as feedback. The information you obtain from complaints identifies participants/supported employees, recurring problems and allows you to get to the cause of problems, and improve your service.
- Periodically review your system through consultation with your participants/supported employees and their support people.
The guide is for developing a new policy or reviewing a existing policy. A sample policy is also provided that you might choose to adapt to your organisation. If you adapt an existing policy statement, think carefully about whether each statement applies to your organisation and is accurate for you, and if not, change it to reflect your organisation.
| Check that you have the following elements: | |
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| 1 | Title of document
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| 2 | Mission/purpose of the organisation
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| 3 | Statement of participants/supported employees rights to make a complaint in law
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| 4 | Definition of complaint
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| 5 | Statement of support for the law relating to participants/supported employees rights
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| 6 | Our organisation's commitment to welcoming and resolving complaints For example:
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| 7 | Reasons for the complaints management system
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| 8 | Confidentiality
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| 9 | Freedom from victimisation or harassment
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| 10 | Participants/supported employees right to be supported in the complaints process
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| 11 | Timely handling and speedy resolution
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| 12 | Recording, monitoring, making changes, reviewing
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| 13 | Communication and follow-up
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| 14 | Procedures
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The complaints handling policy of an organisation should affirm the mission and purpose of an organisation, as well as affirming the rights of service users to make complaints about any elements of the service they receive. This sample complaint handling policy refers to a fictitious employment service - Work for All Australians.
The mission of Work for All Australians is to support people with disability to make informed choices about their employment, and to achieve work placements that reflect the capabilities of people with disability.
The purpose of Work for All Australians is to assist people with significant disability prepare for, and to find and maintain employment in the general workforce. We will undertake this role by ensuring the appropriate training and support for people with disability to achieve their work goals, as well as supporting employers to employ and support people with disability.
Work for All Australians recognises the rights of people with disability accessing their service - prior to intake, at intake, during service delivery and post service delivery - to raise any concerns or issues about the organisation, in accordance with the Disability Services Standards. Where the person with disability does not wish to complain directly to staff of Work for All Australians, every effort will be made to connect the participants/supported employees with the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service (CRRS). It is the policy of Work for all Australians to support a participants/supported employees right to be heard in relation to the service they are receiving or requiring, and to be supported in making a complaint about the service.
Work for all Australians believes that our policies, practices and procedures ensure that participants/supported employees rights are protected, that no one is discriminated against, abused or harassed, and that complaints are made without fear of victimisation.
Work for all Australians will consider anything as a complaint which participants/supported employees think is unfair or which makes them unhappy with our service.
Participants/supported employees and/or their support people have the right to raise complaints, issues and problems that they have with any aspect of our service, and to have them resolved equitably and fairly, in a way that preserves the dignity of the participants/supported employees.
The service will accept as a complaint any expression of dissatisfaction which a participant/supported employee, or any key stakeholder, has about the service.
The service will handle any expression of dissatisfaction with impartiality and there will be no retribution for complainants raising matters with the service.
Advocates and families are encouraged to be part of the complaints handling process, when participants/supported employees want support.
Work for all Australians has developed a system for complaints resolution in consultation with participants/supported employees wherever possible, and will communicate either verbally, in writing or in a format the participants/supported employees can understand at the earliest possible time after a decision is made.
Staff will follow up with the participants/supported employees within 10 days to see if they are happy with the outcome.
All complaints will be recorded and monitored because complaints provide opportunities to review current procedures or practices and can improve service quality for all participants/supported employees.
This document will be reviewed annually and will be updated as required.
Note: while this covers all the basic elements of the checklist, it is quite a brief policy. You may need to add more detail to suit your particular organisation. You may wish to consider having two policies. A short, simple one for your participants/supported employees, and a more detailed one for your staff.
1 The following pages are adapted from Community Services Commission (NSW), Solving problems and handling complaints in community services: a guide for service providers, 2001.