2014-05-20 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                       20 MAY 2014


REPORT
An effective complaints management system is an important part of the provision of goods and
services by the Council to the community. It is one method of measuring community satisfaction
and provides a useful source of information and feedback for improving Council’s services.
The Local Government Act 2009 requires local governments to adopt a process for administering
administrative action complaints made by an affected person.

An administrative action complaint is a complaint made by a person directly affected by an
administrative action. It is an expression of dissatisfaction about a service or any associated
administrative matter provided or the performance of staff in providing that service.

The Process does not include representations which debate or challenge the substance of
Council’s policies, programs or regulatory powers. In addition, the Process does not apply to
complaints about Councillor’s including the mayor, staff conduct or matters covered by Code of
Conduct, anti-discrimination or equal employment issues, civil or insurance matters, Council fines
or matters where separate avenues of appeal have been established e.g. the courts.

Importantly, a complaint under this Process should not be confused with a customer request for a
service, notification, enquiry or a suggestion. These matters are covered by Council’s Customer
Service Charter.

The Process provides an analysis of how a complaint can be made, its management and
expectations of all parties both internal and external to Council. It provides for a policy statement
and a procedure, the types of complaints covered and outlines how complainants should be
treated and avenues for review or appeal.

The Process provides for the resolution of a complaint in three tiers:

1.    Frontline complaint handling – staff empowered to resolve complaints where possible at
      first contact.

2.    Internal Review – more senior officers or designated complaint officer review/investigates
      unresolved complaints.

3.    External Review - unresolved complaints referred externally e.g. Ombudsman, mediation.

The Process aims to resolve the majority of complaints at the first-tier, the frontline. Complaint
handling is a key component of good corporate governance and is fundamental to ensuring an
appropriate level of accountability and transparency in the exercise of Council functions.

Previous Council Consideration
Nil

Finance & Risk
The Process will be managed through the operational budget of the Executive Office.

The risk to the organisation of not having an accessible process for people to make complaints is
that an affected person will take their grievance or complaint to other persons to resolve e.g. the
media or other government agencies. Additionally, Council seeks feedback from the community
as a means of identifying problems and measuring performance. Without this Process,
accountability, improvement and responsiveness in Council services may decline.




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