CHAPTER 8challenges in complaint handling

Data management

A major project this year was the development of a new complaints management system. This system is computer-based, and is integral to the effective management of individual complaints by the office and the strategic garnering of data from those complaints.

The complaints management system must align with other activities in the office: efficient document creation and filing; the movement of the office towards being an electronic rather than a paper-based office; the growing emphasis upon email as a means of communication both internally and with complainants and agencies; and the increasing need for officers operating outside the office to be able to undertake mobile computing.

We have been developing a new complaints management system to meet those challenges. This project is being undertaken in conjunction with a private sector company that delivers systems to some other ombudsman offices in Australia.

We are also undertaking a major overhaul of all aspects of our information technology infrastructure and electronic document handling. This has proved to be a substantial project but one that has the potential to improve the efficiency of data entry, the quality of data, the support that the system can provide for timely complaint management and quality control, and the efficiency with which documents are created, stored, retrieved, and moved around our eight different offices.

While we are not ready to be a paperless office, we are actively restraining the unnecessary duplication of electronic records in paper form. This requires levels of data integrity and document management that can provide the assurance of accurate record keeping, while also guaranteeing safety of the data from a security perspective and ensuring that the data is not subject to the vagaries of complex technical systems.