2018-06-12 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   12 JUNE 2018




                                                   Page 58 of 118

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                         12 JUNE 2018

            COUNCIL POLICY - ADMINISTRATION ACTION COMPLAINTS PROCESS

            SCOPE
            The Administrative Action Complaint Policy and supporting procedure applies to all administrative
            action complaints received by Council.
            Defining a complaint
            The Australian   Standard AS/NZS       10002:2014 defines     a complaint as an      expression of
            dissatisfaction made to or about an organisation related to its products, services, or staff or the
            handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally
            required.
            Defining an administrative action
            Section 268(2) of the LGA defines an administrative action, complaint as one about an
            administrative action of Council by an affected person, i.e. one who is apparently directly affected
            by the administrative action.
            An administrative action of a local government includes the following:
            (i) | adecision, a failure to make a decision, including a failure to provide written statement of
                  reasons for a decision,
            (ii)  an act, or a failure to do an act,
            (iii) | the formulation of a proposal or intention; and
            (iv)  the making of a recommendation.
            Examples of administrative action complaints:
            Type of Administrative action                      Complaint examples
            An act or, failure to do an act.                   e  A repeated complaint about the general quality
                                                                  of a park that is not responded to by Council;
                                                               e  Failure to take action after a request has been
                                                                  received to fix a pothole in the complainant’s
                                                                  street or other place they regularly travel;
                                                               e  Failure to take appropriate action following a
                                                                  request by an affected person to investigate a
                                                                  barking dog or noisy air conditioner; or
                                                               e  Acomplaint about a process that Council is
                                                                  undertaking that is impacting on the complainant.
            A  decision,  a, failure to  make   a  decision,   e  A complaint in respect of a Council decision to
            including a failure to provide a written statement    vary a service.
            of reasons for a decision.                         e  Acomplaint in respect of a Council decision to
                                                                  not action a request.
            The formulation of a proposal or intention.        e  Acomplaint in respect of a proposal by Council
                                                                  to take a particular action in the future.
            The making of a recommendation.                    e  Acomplaint in respect of a recommendation
                                                                  made by Council.
            Distinction between an administrative action and a request for service
            A request for service is not considered an administrative action complaint and is not subject to this
            policy.
            Examples of requests for service commonly mistaken for as administrative action complaints
            include:
            e     A missed wheelie bin pick up;
            e     A request to mow a park;
            e     A request to clean a park barbeque;
            °     A notification of a barking dog; or
            e     A request to fix a pothole.

                                                                                                        Page 2

                                                                                                        Page 58 of 118