The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) have complaints handling mechanisms which service providers can access. The types of issues service providers may complain about include:

• certification issues
• funding issues
• complaints about the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service
• complaints relating to departmental contract management
• electronic system problems.

How to contact them:

FaHCSIA National Office Complaints Team
Phone: 1800 634 035
Fax: (02) 6204 4587

DEEWR Customer Service Line:
Free call: 1800 805 260

Certification bodies are required to have an internal complaints handling system. The types of complaints that service providers might make to a certification body could include (in the first instance):

• complaints about audit results
• complaints about certification revocation or suspension
• complaints about the conduct of an audit team.

How to contact them:
Refer to the contact details for your particular certification body.

You can contact JAS-ANZ with a complaint about a certification body if you are not satisfied with the outcome of the certification body's complaints process. The types of complaints might include:

• complaints about audit results
• complaints about certification revocation or suspension
• complaints about the conduct of an audit team. JAS-ANZ does not have authority to overturn a certification decision, although it can question the judgement of the certification body and reassess its accreditation status if accreditation requirements have not been met.

How to contact them:

Tel: 02 6232 2000
Fax: 02 6262 7980
Mail: GPO Box 170 Canberra ACT 2601
Website: www.jas-anz.com.au

If you are not happy about a decision the department has made under the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) you may be able to lodge an appeal with the AAT. The AAT provides independent review of a wide range of administrative decisions made by the Australian Government and some non-government bodies.

How to contact the AAT:

Tel: 1300 366 700
Email: aatweb@aat.gov.au.
Website: www.aat.gov.au

Postal contact details for Offices in each state are available from the AAT website.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman can investigate complaints about the actions and decisions of Commonwealth departments and authorities to see if they are wrong, unjust, unlawful or discriminatory or unfair. The Ombudsman also seeks remedies for those affected by defective administration, and acts to improve public administration generally. This means that the Ombudsman can look at complaints raised by service providers about the way the department has dealt with them. The Ombudsman cannot override the decisions of agencies, or compel them to comply with his or her recommendations. However, agencies generally do accept the Ombudsman's recommendations.

How to contact the Ombudsman:

Tel: 1300 362 072
Website: www.ombudsman.gov.au (includes an online complaint form)

Postal contact details for Offices in each state are available from the Commonwealth Ombudsman's website.