Corruption Matters - November 2018 | Issue 52
How are we tracking with servicing complaints?
A review published by the NSW Ombudsman records how well 44 NSW public sector agencies are applying a series of commitments developed by the government to improve the complainant experience. Although there is room for improvement, the current scorecard reveals excellent progress and a generally positive shift in attitudes over the past decade.
The NSW Government’s Whole of Government Commitments to Effective Complaint Handling (“the Commitments”) are a high-level principle-based approach to effective complaint-handling and lay the foundation on which agencies can build their complaint management systems. The six Commitments are:
(1) respectful treatment
(2) information and accessibility
(3) good communication
(4) taking ownership
(5) timeliness
(6) transparency.
The Ombudsman’s report, which was tabled to the NSW Parliament in August 2018, considered whether and how key agencies from across the NSW public sector are applying the Commitments. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, as no single method would provide a clear picture of the state of complaint-handling in the sector and show what the next steps should be. The review included an assessment of agency websites, policies and procedures, complaint samples, and analyses of staff and manager surveys and interviews.
The report demonstrated the significant value of the Commitments to the public sector and the community, and highlighted what is being done to improve complaint-handling and satisfaction with government services.
Since the Commitments were endorsed by the Secretaries Board in mid-2016, a number of very positive changes have been made, with the report noting excellent progress in the quality of complaint-handling and a generally positive shift in attitudes towards complaints over the past decade.
Nevertheless, the review identified areas of focus where public sector agencies can, and should, do more to meet the Commitments and continue to build the ongoing confidence of the community, including the need to:
- improve on the publicly available information about the complaints process
- better manage complainant expectations at the outset (and be proactive with regard to communication)
- provide relevant staff with the training, support and resources they need to deal with complaints and complainants appropriately and efficiently
- improve awareness and monitoring of timeframes to resolve complaints, as well as communicating with complainants when there is an unavoidable delay with their matter
- improve data collection and analysis of complaint information to identify any policies, practices and procedures that could be improved
- improve on the sharing of insights learnt from complaints among staff.
The Ombudsman made 86 suggestions for improvement to agencies under section 31AC of the Ombudsman Act 1974, which were generally accepted by agencies with undertakings for further action.
In order to maintain and build on improvements to date, ongoing monitoring and reporting of complaint-handling practice is important. The Ombudsman’s office will continue with a range of activities to assist agencies to improve their complaint-handling practices.
To ensure that continuous improvement of complaint-handling across the sector is embedded and does not drift away when other priorities come to the fore, a legislative basis for the Commitments and monitoring should be considered. The Ombudsman has written to the NSW Premier requesting that the Ombudsman Act 1974 be amended to provide a statutory mandate to evaluate complaint-handling and reports on those findings on a regular basis.