The Australian National Audit Office has found that the handling of complaints from the public by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is effective, but there were some improvements that could be made.
In his report Australian Broadcasting Corporation—Complaints Management, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir says the ABC’s complaints process is “accessible to the public, easy to navigate and responsive to complainants”.
“The ABC effectively manages complaints handled by its central complaints management area,” Mr Hehir said.
“(Its) limited visibility over content areas’ handling of complaints reduces the overall effectiveness of its complaints management.”
He said his audit found that in 2016-17 the ABC received 58,477 written audience contacts, of which 30,881 (53 per cent) were complaints.
“The ABC monitors complaints managed centrally but it has limited visibility over the progress and outcomes of the less significant but higher volume complaints managed directly by content areas,” Mr Hehir said.
He recommended the ABC implement record-keeping requirements, including a baseline level of information that content areas were required to document regarding complaints and outcomes.
In its response, the ABC partially agreed with this recommendation.
The Auditor-General’s 48-page report can be accessed at this PS News link and the audit team was Renina Boyd, Barbara Das, Samuel Meredith and Deborah Jackson.
