What is the complaints process?

We will ask you to tell us what your complaint is about

We will work with you when you make a complaint. We will offer you a safe environment so you can share information about your complaint.

If you are making the complaint on behalf of a person with disability, we will speak with them where possible to gain their consent to proceed. We support people with disability to have their say and will seek to involve them.

We will ask whether you want a specific outcome

You will be asked about the outcome you are looking for. It's okay if you don't want any specific outcome. If you're unsure, we can talk to you about what outcomes may be possible.

If you decide to withdraw your complaint we may still look into the matter.

Many complaints can be resolved through us working with you, or the person making a complaint on your behalf, and the disability worker to get outcomes that each person is satisfied with.

 

If you need help with languages, writing or communicating

We can arrange in-language interpreters or you can contact us via the National Relay Service, including for Auslan interpreters, to help you make a complaint and to assist you at any time.

We can help you make a complaint in an online meeting with us, or even in person if you prefer.

 

What to expect when you meet with us about a complaint

You will have the opportunity to share information about your concerns, including any information you believe will be useful to support your complaint. You might like to bring along some questions you would like to ask.

A Commission staff member experienced in handling complaints will attend. We encourage you to bring along a support person if you wish. This might be a friend or family member, a support worker, or someone you feel comfortable with to assist you in explaining your concerns. You can have more than one support person attend.

The disability worker or workers the complaint is about will not attend.

We will look into your complaint

Many complaints can be fixed by us contacting the disability worker, to see if we can resolve the complaint.

Your complaint could be handled in one of the following ways:

  • Settle by agreement - for example an apology from a worker or an agreement between them and you
  • Conciliation - this is a more formal process where the people involved in a complaint come together to agree on how the complaint can be fixed. This can only happen if the parties to a complaint agree to conciliation. The parties will then have certain rights and responsibilities under the Disability Service Safeguards Act 2018
  • Counselling - is an educational tool used by the Commission, for example to remind disability workers that they must follow the Disability Service Safeguards Code of Conduct
  • Investigation - we can look further into the complaint by investigating. Learn more about investigations here.

We will let you know the outcome of your complaint

When we have decided on the outcome we will let you know.

We deal with most complaints within 120 days. Complaints that are complex can take longer before we make a final decision.

 

Download a copy of our 'What happens after you make a complaint? fact sheet PDF/Word.