CHAPTER 8challenges in complaint handling

Efficient handling of complaints

The office has been reviewing the procedures it uses for receiving complaints and allocating those complaints to investigation or complaint officers. This task is as challenging as it is important. We receive upward of 30,000 complaints and inquiries each year, at eight separate offices, by telephone, mail, email and in person, and relating to as many as a hundred different Australian Government agencies. A decision has to be made as to which of the inquiries and complaints will be investigated, which of the seventy or so investigation officers will be allocated the complaint, and the degree of senior involvement in the investigation.

The allocation of cases has until now been influenced strongly by two factors.

• The State or Territory office in which the complaint is received or the complainant resides usually commences (and completes) the investigation.
  
  
• Different investigation officers around Australia have been designated as agency specialists (especially for agencies about which only a small number of complaints are received).

During 2004–05, a new system was developed for introduction in 2005–06. A small Public Contact Team is being established in the Canberra office, through which all telephone complaints and inquiries will pass. The team will handle the majority of telephone contacts—for example, answering queries as to the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman, referring people to agency complaint-handling units, and resolving the more straightforward cases after contacting an agency. Cases that require a more expert analysis or sustained investigation will be referred to the most appropriate investigation officer.

This is one of the more far-reaching changes that have been made in the history of the office to the way in which complaints are handled. Among the benefits that are expected from this change are:

• the efficient dispatch of simpler inquiries
  
  
• more consistency in public contact activities
  
  
• better allocation of cases to the most appropriate and skilled investigation officer
  
  
• early detection of emerging problem areas in government administration
  
  
• greater uniformity in data entry
  
  
• better supervision by senior officers of the work of the office.

Another objective motivating this change is to strengthen the role of the State and Territory branches of our national office. The advantages of a national office structure were described in last year's annual report, and include personal contact with complainants, local knowledge of government service delivery, and interaction with community gatekeepers. More time can be spent by staff in State offices on developing that side of our work, and on investigating difficult cases, if less time is spent on routine public contact work and preliminary complaint analysis. The investigation expertise within local offices can be developed at the same time.