Service delivery complaints procedure

Application/scope

The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidance to OIA employees in their handling of service delivery complaints. This procedure is to be read in conjunction with the OIA complaints management and internal review policy and the Internal review of an OIA councillor conduct complaint assessment decision procedure.

What is a service delivery complaint

A service delivery complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about any aspect of the OIA's services or the conduct of its employees. Examples of service delivery complaints are about delays, employee conduct, communication and responsiveness.

Not every expression of dissatisfaction needs to be handled as a service delivery complaint. Two exceptions are detailed below.

Exceptions

Where the complaint does not meet the threshold of a service delivery complaint

There are times when a complainant may respond adversely when provided with information that they do not agree with or accept. A response of dissatisfaction that is immediate, of a venting nature, and/or non-specific may not amount to a service delivery complaint and does not have to be managed under this procedure. Examples include a verbal outburst directed towards an officer from a complainant when informed that this

Office cannot be of assistance, or general comments from a complainant such as ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’ or ‘you’re useless’.

Where the complaint specifically relates to the outcome of an assessment or investigation

Where a complainant disputes the outcome of an assessment of a councillor conduct complaint then the internal review of an OIA councillor conduct complaint assessment decision procedure is to be applied.

If the OIA has conducted a full investigation into the complaint and the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, the internal review of an OIA councillor conduct complaint assessment decision procedure does not apply. This is because the decision after a full investigation will have gone through various levels of consideration within the OIA prior to the decision being made, and the decision would have been made by the Independent Assessor.

In such cases, the complainant will be advised that they may seek external review of the OIA’s decision, for example, by making a complaint to the Queensland Ombudsman for review of the OIA’s decision.

What should a service delivery complaint include

Complainants wishing to make a service delivery complaint should include:

name, address, email and telephone number - or a complaint may be made anonymously
previous case reference number, if applicable
a concise summary of the nature of complaint e.g. why/how the service provided was deficient
name/s of officers involved
the outcome being sought.

How should a service delivery complaint be made

Service delivery complaints should be made in writing to:

oiacomplaints@oia.qld.gov.au with ‘Service Delivery Complaint’ in the subject line
post to Office of the Independent Assessor, PO Box 15031, City East, Qld 4002

If a complainant is unable to provide a written service delivery complaint, it may be submitted by calling 1300 620 722. The Deputy Independent Assessor may refuse to accept an unwritten complaint unless extenuating circumstances exist.

Time limit

A service delivery complaint must be made no later than three months after the complainant first knew of the action being complained about.

If more than three months, the reviewer will refuse to consider the complaint unless satisfied there are exceptional circumstances which contributed to the delay in the complaint (e.g. long term significant ill-health of complainant, flood or other natural disaster affecting the complainant).

General considerations

After a complaint has been received, general considerations in dealing with the matter include:

Who is the subject of the complaint and who should deal with the complaint
What is the specific service delivery issue raised
How should the complaint be classified
What outcome is the complainant seeking
Is there relevant supporting information and submission
Does further information need to be requested or an investigation undertaken.

Who should deal with the complaint

When a service delivery complaint is received, a determination is to be made in relation to who should handle the complaint. This determination will depend on how the complaint is classified. The table below provides guidance to officers in making this determination.

Classification of complaint	Who will deal with the complaint
Classification of complaint	The receiving officer	Refer to manager
Straightforward Complaints which are likely to have minimal risk or detriment to the complainant or the Office. Examples include complaints about incorrectly addressed correspondence, minor delays or minor communication difficulties. These complaints are more likely to have been made informally and directly to the employee concerned. Complaints of this nature are suited to frontline informal resolution.	If the complaint is about an individual employee, they should attempt to resolve it informally with the complainant.	The complaint should be immediately referred to a manager if: the complainant requests someone else deal with the complaint (including if correspondence is addressed to the Independent Assessor or the complainant asks to speak to a manager) the employee is not confident that they can deal with the matter fairly or feels that the complainant will perceive them as not capable of dealing with it fairly when the problem is clearly outside the employee’s delegation or area of expertise if the complaint is from a public sector agency or a Member of Parliament the complainant is still dissatisfied after the employee’s attempts to resolve the complaint.
	If the straightforward complaint is received by an employee but is about someone else – they should refer the complaint to that person who will then determine whether they should attempt to resolve it themselves (using the above criteria).
Serious Complaints which are significant/complex with medium or high level of risk/detriment to the complainant or the Office. Examples include complaints about significant delays, a challenge to the conduct or competency of the employee, or serious communication difficulties. These are more likely to have been made formally either in writing or directed to the employee’s manager.	N/A	All serious complaints must be referred to the Deputy Independent Assessor irrespective of whether the receiving officer considers they have merit. This referral is to occur immediately upon receiving the complaint.

Allegations of corrupt conduct or criminal activity An allegation that is made that if proven could result in significant disciplinary action or where an employee is alleged to have committed a criminal offence, acted corruptly, or engaged in other corrupt conduct.	N/A	Allegations must be immediately referred to the Independent Assessor or Deputy Independent Assessor irrespective of whether they are considered to have merit.

What outcome can be expected

Each complaint is unique and will need a solution that addresses the complainant’s concerns. Some possible outcomes include:

an expression of empathy or regret that the complainant has suffered some form of detriment without admitting any fault
offering an apology where it is apparent that the employee was at fault
providing explanations and giving reasons for a decision or action
undertaking some remedial action
expediting the work on a matter where there has been some unreasonable delay
training for the employee concerned
informal or formal management action taken against the relevant employee, including formal disciplinary processes.

Complaints may be declined on assessment if it is considered that no action is warranted. Examples include frivolous or vexatious complaints. Complainants should be advised of the outcome and reasons.

Common sense will dictate whether the receiving officer or manager has achieved everything that the complainant could reasonably expect from this Office. The complainant should be told in clear terms what the receiving officer, manager and the Office can and cannot do.

How to manage the complaint

The way in which a complaint should be managed will depend on both how it is classified and how it was received.

Anonymous complaints should be assessed against the same criteria as any other complaints. When assessing complaints, particular considerations include the nature and seriousness of the complaint, the quantity and quality of information and capability of productive review or outcome.

See table below for straightforward and serious complaints and allegations of corrupt conduct.

Straightforward complaints

Verbal service delivery complaints	Written service delivery complaints
The receiving officer should: respond in an objective manner be polite and courteous actively listen and ask open questions to correctly understand the complaint seek clarification and confirm issues, relevant information, and outcomes sought (i.e., summarise the main points made and ask whether the understanding is correct) generally, acknowledge the complainant’s sense of grievance, justified or not provide information that will assist the complainant to better understand the matter they are complaining about ask the complainant how they would like their dissatisfaction to be addressed try to meet any reasonable requests that would resolve the matter. If the complaint cannot be dealt with on first contact, the receiving officer should: advise the complainant about the complaints process and indicative timeframe for response where appropriate, advise that they will discuss the matter with their manager to explore options to resolve their complaint. Additionally, the receiving officer should: clarify the application of any relevant policies or procedures governing the way their matter has been dealt with take the action decided and inform the complainant within 10 business days take any further action necessary to prevent similar complaints in the future.	The receiving officer should: seek to deal with the complaint within 10 business days (in the first instance) consider responding to the complainant informally by telephone and then confirm the discussion in writing or provide a written response to the complainant addressing the issues raised where appropriate seek advice from a manager.
Where the complaint has been made as part of a general interaction with the employee, the subject of the complaint, if the receiving officer is able to satisfactorily resolve the complaint then the details of any conversation and correspondence must be recorded on the relevant case in the OIA’s case management system, or for non-complaint matters, as part of normal business recording for that type of interaction. It is not necessary to report the matter specifically as a service delivery complaint. Where a straightforward complaint has not been resolved during the first contact and/or has been escalated to a manager, details of the complaint must be recorded in the Service Delivery Register. Where a straightforward complaint has not been resolved during the first contact, has been made outside the course of a general interaction with the employee the subject of the complaint and/or has been escalated to a manager, details of the complaint must be recorded in the Service Delivery Complaint Register.

Verbal service delivery complaints

Written service delivery complaints

The receiving officer should:

respond in an objective manner
be polite and courteous
actively listen and ask open questions to correctly understand the complaint
seek clarification and confirm issues, relevant information, and outcomes sought (i.e., summarise the main points made and ask whether the understanding is correct)
generally, acknowledge the complainant’s sense of grievance, justified or not
provide information that will assist the complainant to better understand the matter they are complaining about
ask the complainant how they would like their dissatisfaction to be addressed
try to meet any reasonable requests that would resolve the matter.

If the complaint cannot be dealt with on first contact, the receiving officer should:

advise the complainant about the complaints process and indicative timeframe for response
where appropriate, advise that they will discuss the matter with their manager to explore options to resolve their complaint.

Additionally, the receiving officer should:

clarify the application of any relevant policies or procedures governing the way their matter has been dealt with
take the action decided and inform the complainant within 10 business days
take any further action necessary to prevent similar complaints in the future.

The receiving officer should:

seek to deal with the complaint within 10 business days
(in the first instance) consider responding to the complainant informally by telephone and then confirm the discussion in writing
or provide a written response to the complainant addressing the issues raised
where appropriate seek advice from a manager.

Where the complaint has been made as part of a general interaction with the employee, the subject of the complaint, if the receiving officer is able to satisfactorily resolve the complaint then the details of any conversation and correspondence must be recorded on the relevant case in the OIA’s case management system, or for non-complaint matters, as part of normal business recording for that type of interaction. It is not necessary to report the matter specifically as a service delivery complaint.

Where a straightforward complaint has not been resolved during the first contact and/or has been escalated to a manager, details of the complaint must be recorded in the Service Delivery Register.

Where a straightforward complaint has not been resolved during the first contact, has been made outside the course of a general interaction with the employee the subject of the complaint and/or has been escalated to a manager, details of the complaint must be recorded in the Service Delivery Complaint Register.

Referral of a straightforward complaint

Straightforward complaints that are identified as appropriate for referral to the Deputy Independent Assessor should be referred as soon as possible following receipt. The referral must include all the relevant information and the action taken. Where a complaint has been referred to a manager for resolution, in addition to recording the relevant details, details of the complaint must be formally recorded in the Service Delivery Complaint Register.

Serious complaints

Verbal service delivery complaints

Written service delivery complaints

All serious complaints received via telephone or in person must be escalated to the Deputy Independent Assessor.

The Deputy Independent Assessor, when dealing with the verbal complaint, should be guided by table titled, ‘who should deal with the complaint’ (above).

Where the Deputy Independent Assessor resolves the verbal complaint, details of the matter should be confirmed in writing with the complainant.

Where the Deputy Independent Assessor cannot resolve the complaint immediately, they should:

provide a written response to the complainant addressing the issues raised
where appropriate seek advice from the Independent Assessor.

Details of the complaint must be formally recorded in the Service Delivery Complaint Register.

Serious service delivery complaints should be immediately referred to the Deputy Independent Assessor.

The Deputy Independent Assessor should:

(in the first instance) consider responding to the complainant informally by telephone (see above) and then confirm the discussion in writing
provide an acknowledgement letter within seven business days (if the complaint cannot be addressed within that period)
seek to deal with the complaint within 28 calendar days
if necessary review/investigate the matters complained of
provide a written response to the complainant addressing the issues raised
where appropriate seek advice from the Independent Assessor.

Details of the complaint must be formally recorded in the Service Delivery Register.

Referral of a serious complaint

The Deputy Independent Assessor may, having regard to the criteria in the table titled, ‘who should deal with the complaint’ above, decide to refer a serious service delivery complaint to the Independent Assessor. If a decision is made to refer a complaint, this should be done immediately upon making that decision. All relevant information and the action taken to date should be provided to the Independent Assessor.

Allegations of corrupt conduct

Corrupt conduct is conduct as defined in s.15 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

Verbal service delivery complaints

Written service delivery complaints

Where allegations of corrupt conduct are made over the telephone or in person, the complaint should be referred to the receiving officer’s manager.

The manager should collect the relevant information from the complainant and upon finalising the call provide email advice to the Independent Assessor.

The written complaint should be immediately referred to the Independent Assessor.

An acknowledgement letter should be provided to the complainant within three business days.

The Independent Assessor will decide the necessary course of action which may include reference to the Crime and Corruption Commission, an internal investigation or dismissal of the complaint.

The Office should attempt to finalise any internal investigation within three months of receiving the complaint. Substantiated conduct may lead to consideration of disciplinary action.

Details of the complaint must be formally recorded in the Service Delivery Complaint Register.

Review of a service delivery complaint

In the following circumstances it may be necessary for a service delivery complaint to be reviewed by the Independent Assessor:

where a straightforward or serious complaint has not been able to be resolved by the Deputy Independent Assessor, or
where the Deputy Independent Assessor is the subject of a serious complaint or an unresolved straightforward complaint.

The Independent Assessor may undertake the review or appoint a senior officer to conduct the review (the reviewer). The reviewer should have no previous involvement in the matter, have no conflict of interest and be impartial, qualified and/or experienced to conduct the review.

The review must be conducted in accordance with natural justice and the employee complained about must be provided with an opportunity to provide their version of events.

Sufficient information should be gathered to make a decision, provide reasons and identify appropriate actions for resolution. The work required to be undertaken in relation to the review will depend upon the nature and substance of the allegations. It is not necessary to undertake a significant review in circumstances where the complaint is non-specific, lacks substance or supporting evidence, or is of a vexatious nature.

A review should be undertaken as quickly as possible but should be finalised within three months of receipt of the review request.

The reviewer is to provide the Independent Assessor with a written report on the findings and recommendations. The Independent Assessor will consider the report and decide the outcome, including any remedies.

Outcome advice to the complainant

It is important that the complainant is provided with information regarding the outcome of their complaint. This is to occur within the timeframes and processes detailed above.

Recordkeeping

It is essential that a service delivery complaint (other than a straightforward complaint dealt with by the employee that is to be noted in the OIA records management systems) is appropriately recorded in the Office’s record keeping systems.

A service delivery complaint is to be recorded in the Office’s Service Delivery Complaint Register maintained by the Principal Executive Officer. In addition to recording the category, the outcome of each complaint must be recorded as either:

substantiated (in whole or part)
not substantiated.

Reporting

Service delivery complaints will be reported in the Office's annual report and data will be published annually in accordance with the requirements of s.219A of the Public Service Act 2008.

Feedback and monitoring

Employees managing service delivery complaints will:

advise the employee who is the subject of the complaint that a service delivery complaint has been received, and
report the outcome to the employee concerned with appropriate comment aimed at preventing a repetition of any error or unsatisfactory service that may have occurred.

The Principal Executive Officer will report to the OIA Management Group on a quarterly basis regarding any trends in service delivery complaints. The Service Delivery Complaints Register will be used to identify improvements in the way the OIA deals with complaints covered by this procedure.

Reviews of this procedure will be aligned to reviews of the policy.

Definitions

Receiving officer	The officer who first receives a service delivery complaint
Serious service delivery complaint	A complaint which is significant/complex with medium or high level of risk/detriment to the complainant or the Office. Examples include complaints about significant delays, a challenge to the conduct or competency of the officer, or serious communication difficulties.
Service delivery complaint	An expression of dissatisfaction about any aspect of this Office's services or the conduct of employees. Examples of service delivery complaints are complaints about delays, employee conduct, communication and responsiveness.
Straightforward service delivery complaint	A service delivery complaint which is likely to have minimal risk or detriment to the complainant or the Office. Examples include complaints about incorrectly addressed correspondence, minor delays or minor communication difficulties.

Last updated: 10 Oct 2025