 » Complaints and Feedback Policy |
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Complaints and Feedback Policy
| Policy Recommended by Leadership Committee: | Date: December 2007
| Policy Ratified by Board of Directors:
| Date: December 2007
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 Click here to download Complaint / Feedback Form [Word Document- File size: 293KB]
Policy Statement
Children and Young People, and Consumers of CREATE services are entitled to complain or provide feedback about the services they receive, and to have their complaint dealt with in a respectful and timely manner.
Principles
Children and Young People and Consumers have a right to:
• Be provided with services that are accountable
• Access services that are open and transparent
• Be informed of their right to make a complaint, or provide feedback about the services they receive
• Be supported throughout the complaints process by a person of their choice
• Make a complaint without fear of retribution
• Be heard and listened to
• Receive a response in a timely manner that addresses their complaint or feedback
• Confidentiality
• Procedural fairness
Links
• Queensland Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian: www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au
• NSW Ombudsman: www.ombo.nsw.gov.au
• SA Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People: www.gcyp.sa.gov.au
• NT Ombudsman: www.omb-hcscc.nt.gov.au
• Commissioner for Children Tasmania: www.childcomm.tas.gov.au
• Office of the Child Safety Commissioner Victoria: www.ocsc.vic.gov.au
• Office of the Public Advocate (ACT): www.publicadvocate.act.gov.au
• Advocate for Children and Young People in Care (WA):
www.community.wa.gov.au//DCP/ContactUs/Advocate_for_Children_in_Care.htm
Purpose
To provide clear guidelines for Children and Young People, and Consumers to make a complaint about the services provided by CREATE staff or agents.
Procedure
Children and Young People and Consumers should be encouraged to voice their concerns in a variety of ways that might include providing feedback via evaluation surveys, informal discussions etc, or by making a formal complaint. CREATE aims to work through issues or disputes with Children and Young People, Consumers or Workers in an attempt to avoid the matter reaching a complaint. However, we recognize that this is not always possible and every attempt will be made to resolve the issue satisfactorily.
Anyone can provide feedback, or make a complaint about CREATE’s services. If a Child or Young Person or Consumer does not want to make the complaint themselves, they are able to seek support from anyone they choose to make the complaint on their behalf. No one needs permission to provide feedback or make a complaint.
Children and Young People and Consumers are able to have an advocate of their choice to support them through the complaints process with the staff concerned, and / or the management of CREATE. Equally, staff are entitled to respond to the complaint, and are entitled to have a support person present should mediation take place.
Definitions
Dispute Resolution
Where parties work towards a common goal to resolve the issue before it becomes a complaint. Mediation may occur in this process and can be offered by a CREATE supervisor, or external person at the discretion of management.
Informal Feedback
Children and Young People and Consumers may wish to air their issues or grievances without entering into a formal complaints process. Every attempt should be made to elicit responses from Children and Young People and Consumers about the services they receive in a positive and constructive manner. Providing feedback is valuable for the Child/Young Person and Consumer, as well as the organization.
Children and Young People and Consumers may provide feedback in various ways:
• Face to face directly to their Community Facilitator or other CREATE worker
• Via email
• By writing a letter, or poem
• Drawing a picture, painting or other creative artistic means
Each CREATE office should display material inviting Children and Young People and Consumers to comment about the services they provide via feedback. How to provide Feedback or Make a Complaint brochures / handouts should be displayed in CREATE offices.
Formal Complaint
Usually formal complaints occur when attempts to resolve the dispute have failed, or the outcomes are not satisfactory to remedy the situation. The Child or Young Person or Consumer should be given the option to make their formal complaint either verbally or in writing.
- All complaints should be raised in a timely manner for maximum opportunity to remedy the situation and achieve a positive outcome.
- The person raising the complaint should be encouraged to discuss/raise their concerns directly with the person in question before progressing to a formal complaint.
- Process of responding to a formal complaint
Upon receiving notification that the Child or Young Person or Consumer wishes to make a complaint the staff member needs to:
- Acknowledge the complaint in a timely manner (within 48 hours). This can be in person or by phone.
- Ascertain the steps already undertaken to resolve the matter.
- Encourage the Child or Young Person or Consumer to raise the matter with the person concerned in the first instance (with an advocate, if required).
- Determine if other avenues are appropriate to resolve the matter, and if not, provide information about how to make a complaint.
- It is the Child or Young Person or Consumer’s right to have a support person.
- Identify what the person raising the complaint hopes to achieve (ie. find out what their preferred outcome is).
- If the Child or Young Person or Consumer has been unable to gain a satisfactory outcome directly with the person concerned they are encouraged to follow the Line Management Flow Chart.
- The Line Management Flow Chart process should be adhered to because it facilitates natural justice for the complainant, and the staff member in question. Deviations from the Line Management Flow Chart should be discouraged. However, it is recognised that in some instances it might be difficult for the complainant to raise issues directly with the person concerned.
- Due process allows staff members to be able to respond to complaints raised about them, and they should be afforded every opportunity to be able to do so.
- Once the complaint is received the person taking the complaint should provide the details to the staff member most appropriate (it is important to note that the complaint maybe about a service, or a person). This should be done in writing with a clear timeframe for a written response given to the staff member.
- After the response is received several courses of action can be considered:
i. A meeting could be convened to discuss the response provided.
ii. The response could be sent to the complainant, who is then invited to comment.
iii. Mediation between parties. - If the matter is still not satisfactorily resolved the Child or Young Person or Consumer can escalate the complaint to another level (following the Line Management Flow Chart). The complaint can be dealt with via mediation by the Line Manager or external facilitation (at the discretion of Management). Recommendations may result from this intervention (complainant will receive a response within 14 days of the complaint being received).
- If the recommendations to resolve the complaint are unsatisfactory to the Child or Young Person or Consumer the issue can be raised by the Line Manager to HR (depending on who the complaint is directed towards, and / or the nature of the issue).
- The HR Manager can offer to facilitate a meeting with all parties, or refer for external dispute mediation; this process will be supported by the Line Manager referring the matter.
- If there is still no satisfaction, the Child or Young Person or Consumer is entitled to refer the matter to the CEO of CREATE, who will be supported by the HR Manager.
- If this process does not resolve the complaint for the Child or Young Person or Consumer it can be referred by the CEO to the Board of CREATE for consideration, which will be supported by the CEO.
- If the above process does not provide a satisfactory outcome for the Child or Young Person or Consumer they have a right to escalate their complaint to the Funding Body, or statutory authority from whichever state they are based. Contact details should be provided by the CEO to the Child or Young Person or Consumer. (At any stage the complainant has the right to raise their issue with an external authority, for example the relevant Children’s Commission or Ombudsman).
- Response Timeframes
To be able to affect good outcomes it is essential that complaints are reported in a timely manner. Every effort should be made to encourage Children and Young People and Consumers to raise issues as they occur.
Formal complaints should be firstly acknowledged (within 48 hours) to ensure that the Child or Young Person or Consumer is assured that their comments are valued. The complaint should be formally responded to within 10 working days of reporting. This may include providing information to the complainant about the process that will be undertaken.
Each complaint will vary in complexity. It could be reasonably expected that the complaints process could be undertaken within a 30 day timeframe, however, in some situations it may be extended to a maximum of 45 days.
To facilitate good practice, a follow up should occur within 30 days of the completion of the complaints process to ensure that agreed upon compliance or agreed outcomes are occurring.
- Confidentiality
All complaints will be kept confidential. Only the persons directly involved in the complaint process and resolution will be informed. The Child or Young Person or Consumer will be informed about who will have access to complaints information, and permission will be obtained prior to any information being given to other parties which may be desirable to satisfactorily resolve the complaint.
All records resulting from the formalization of the complaint will be stored under the CREATE Privacy Management Policy.
- Advocates / Support Persons
Children and Young People or Consumers have a right to be supported throughout the complaints process. The following options can be considered:
- A family member
- Friend
- Legal Representative
- Young Consultant
- Other – as determined by the Child or Young Person or Consumer
Note: The support person is not an active participant in the proceedings, and as such is not able to speak on behalf of the Child or Young Person or Consumer (unless they have legal representation and are authorized to speak on their behalf). The aim is not to impede the process in any way.
The Child or Young Person or Consumer is able to ask for a recess at any time in the proceedings; this may be to rest, debrief, or confer with their support person.
Management will ensure that the complaints process is impartial, transparent and accountable and adheres to procedural fairness.
A record of all complaints processes including minutes of meetings, and responses should be kept and copies provided to relevant parties. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the meetings to ensure that accurate records are kept.
Line Management Flow Chart
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