CHAPTER 8 | challenges in complaint handling

Introduction

Other chapters in this report describe the complaint issues that were investigated by the office during the year. Equally important is the system by which those complaint issues are received and investigated. This chapter looks at some of the projects we undertook during the year to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of complaint handling and investigation within the office. These include better data management, development of a Public Contact Team, and a new outreach program. Other projects were examined in last year's annual report, including a client satisfaction survey, the use of computerisation in complaint handling, and a strategic planning exercise.

Data management

A major project this year was the development of a new complaints management system. This system is computer-based, and is integral to the effective management of individual complaints by the office and the strategic garnering of data from those complaints.

The complaints management system must align with other activities in the office: efficient document creation and filing; the movement of the office towards being an electronic rather than a paper-based office; the growing emphasis upon email as a means of communication both internally and with complainants and agencies; and the increasing need for officers operating outside the office to be able to undertake mobile computing.

We have been developing a new complaints management system to meet those challenges. This project is being undertaken in conjunction with a private sector company that delivers systems to some other ombudsman offices in Australia.

We are also undertaking a major overhaul of all aspects of our information technology infrastructure and electronic document handling. This has proved to be a substantial project but one that has the potential to improve the efficiency of data entry, the quality of data, the support that the system can provide for timely complaint management and quality control, and the efficiency with which documents are created, stored, retrieved, and moved around our eight different offices.

While we are not ready to be a paperless office, we are actively restraining the unnecessary duplication of electronic records in paper form. This requires levels of data integrity and document management that can provide the assurance of accurate record keeping, while also guaranteeing safety of the data from a security perspective and ensuring that the data is not subject to the vagaries of complex technical systems.

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.

Staff training

Staff training is equally important to the efficient handling and investigation of complaints. This will be a feature of the new Public Contact Team, with staff in that team being specially trained in telephone work, in identifying issues, and in identifying practical remedies for resolving problems with government.

Over the past two to three years, two other training programs have been developed for all staff—a basic course in complaint handling and investigation, and an advanced investigation course. While these courses have been successful, it can be difficult in a national office with eight separate offices to ensure that all staff (particularly new staff) have the opportunity to undertake a course at an appropriate time. This problem is heightened when (as at present) there is both an expansion in staff numbers and a turnover of existing staff. To deal with this, we are currently investigating the delivery of training through 'online modules', which will make training materials more readily available in the location and in the timeframe required for new staff in any of our offices across the nation. We are also putting increasing emphasis on orientation training and initial training.

Another dimension of the training program is that it has been integrated with the international program of engagement with other ombudsman offices in the south-east Asian and Pacific Regions. Staff from some of those ombudsman offices have regularly joined the training courses being run in our office. Conversely, our staff have spent time in the other ombudsman offices, providing training and support.

Outreach into regional areas

In the 2004 Budget, the Australian Government made a commitment to support a four-year program of regional outreach in the Ombudsman's office. The program commenced in 2004–05. A core objective of the program is to raise awareness of the Commonwealth Ombudsman's role and services through visits to regional centres. We also distributed information in a targeted manner to key community networks, including through regional media where appropriate.

We achieved our aim of conducting, or participating in, an average of at least one focused outreach activity each week during the year. A total of 65 outreach activities, involving all States and Territories were undertaken.

Although it is difficult at this early stage in the program to evaluate results, we estimate that around 1.2 million Australians were directly exposed to information about the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Highlights of the outreach program during the year included:

• Visits to 40 regional and rural communities: in NSW, to Albury, Ballina, the Hunter Valley, Kempsey, Lismore, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong and Wreck Bay; in Victoria, to Ballarat, Bendigo, Echuca, Gippsland region, Horsham, Mildura, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Wangaratta and Wodonga; in Queensland, to Hervey Bay, Mt Isa and Townsville; Mt Gambier in South Australia; and Albany, Bunbury and Broome in Western Australia. In each centre we provided briefings on the role and functions of the office to a broad mix of electorate staff, staff of community and legal aid organisations, chambers of commerce, taxation agents and staff of Australian Government agencies.
• Participation in community events: these were events attended by large numbers of the general public, including the Wimmera Field Days (estimated 50,000 visitors) in Victoria; the National Multicultural Festival (estimated 20,000 visitors) in Canberra; the Albany Agricultural Show (estimated attendance 17,500), North West Expo (estimated 20,000 visitors) and Wagin Woolerama (estimated 30,000 visitors) in Western Australia; and community fairs in Sydney and Perth.

• Advertising and articles in special newspaper supplements: these appeared in Canberra and Darwin; in the Italian newspaper La Fiamma; and in the Department of Veterans' Affairs publication Vetaffairs.
• Broadcasting information in ten community languages: this occurred through Centrelink's fortnightly national broadcast program on the SBS national radio network, reaching approximately 296,000 listeners.

Ombudsman staff made presentations at a wide variety of functions to audiences as diverse as multicultural organisations, Australian Defence Force facilities, administrative law seminars and the Country Women's Association of NSW.

We also explored potential outreach partnerships with other complaint organisations and ombudsman offices, and organisations such as chambers of commerce. The latter played a key role in our visit to the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales in June 2005, in helping to organise, and co-hosting, a number of taxation-focused forums for small business.

A priority for the office is to build on our achievements to date and develop a more sophisticated, strategic and targeted outreach program for 2005–06.