26 September 2023

Ombudsman’s guide for handling complaints

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The Commonwealth Ombudsman has published a new resource to help Agencies ensure they have effective and user-centred complaint handling systems.

The Ombudsman, Michael Manthorpe says his Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling outlines what Agencies stand to gain from a good complaint-handling system; what a good system looks like; and practical steps for handling complaints well.

“This updated Guide reinforces the principles of complaint-handling and provides additional guidance on new complaint-handling practices,” Mr Manthorpe said.

“It reflects the emergence of human-centred design as the accepted standard of better practice in service design, and demonstrates opportunities to improve complaint-handling presented by new technology, data analysis and behavioural insights.

He said that while complaints were important to the people who made them, they were also valuable to Agencies and policy-makers.

“A user-friendly and efficient complaint-handling system doesn’t just resolve problems for individuals — a well-handled complaint can help restore complainant satisfaction and confidence in public administration,” Mr Manthorpe said.

“Complaints also provide a wealth of data that can be interrogated to identify program weakness, systemic administration issues and opportunities to improve business practices.”

He said complaint data might also indicate a difficulty with policy settings that should be considered by policy-makers.

“This edition of the guide also introduces a suite of resources for complaint-handlers, including practical tools to help Agencies review and audit their complaint-handling systems against better practice criteria,” the Ombudsman said.

“My office is also working to support Agencies to improve complaint-handling with complaint-handling communities of practice and a dedicated education program.”

He said Agencies looking to improve their complaint-handling could also ask to participate in his office’s Complaint Assurance Program, which enabled Agencies to draw on the office’s complaint-handling expertise.

The Ombudsman’s new 42-page Guide can be accessed at this PS News link.

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