All staff, clients and other stakeholders will be informed of their rights and responsibilities with regards to complaints and appeals at the earliest possible stage of their involvement with the organisation. 

The complaints procedure will contain information on the following:

• how to make a complaint or lodge an appeal;
• contact person for lodging a complaint or appeal;
• how the organisation will deal with the complaint or appeal, the steps involved and the relevant timelines;
• the rights of the complainant to an advocate, support person or interpreter;
• how the person will be informed about the outcome of their complaint or appeal;
• how to make a complaint to an external body including contact details.

A client wishing to make a complaint may initially do so in writing or verbally to the staff member they were dealing with at the time. The staff member must:

• Inform the CEO or Principal Solicitor, as appropriate of the complaint;
• Make all reasonable efforts to address and resolve the client’s concerns;
• Inform the CEO or Principal Solicitor as appropriate, of the outcome of that process.

If the client’s complaint cannot be resolved through the informal process, the client may initiate a formal complaint process by raising the complaint verbally or in writing with the CEO.

1. Process the Complaint:

• Inform the complainant that their complaint has been received and providing them with information about the process and time frame. Formal complaints should be emailed to [email protected] 

2. Investigate the Complaint:

• Examine the complaint without undue delay of the complaint being received;
• Investigate the complaint and decide how to respond. This would include making an assessment as to whether the complaint raises matters which need to be notified to the Centre’s PII (Professional Indemnity Insurance) insurer, and if so, following the appropriate procedure for making these notifications in accordance with the NACLC Risk Management Guide.
• The CEO or Principal Solicitor will make a determination about whether services can continue to be provided to the complainant throughout the investigation process. This determination will consider such matters as the complainants’ access to other services, whether the complainant has lost confidence in the services of WSCLC, the safety of the staff and volunteers etc. If it is determined that services should continue to be provided, the complainant should not be treated less favourably due to the complaint.
• Inform the complainant in writing of what is being done to investigate and resolve it.

3. Resolve the Complaint:

• Make a decision or refer to the appropriate people for a decision of the complaint being received.
• Inform the complainant of the outcome:
  • • upheld (and if so, what will be done to resolve it)
    • resolved (and how this has been achieved); or
    • if no further action can be taken, the reasons for this.
• Inform the complainant of any options for further action if required.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the investigation and proposed resolution of their complaint, they can seek a review of the matter by lodging an appeal with the CEO or the Chair of the WSCLC Board.

Upon receiving an appeal, the CEO or Chair of the Board (or the Chair’s delegate) will:

1. Process the Appeal

• Inform the complainant that the appeal has been received and provide a time frame for response.

2. Investigate the Appeal

• Examine the appeal within a reasonable time of the appeal being received;
• Investigate the appeal. This would include investigating the original complaint and the manner in which the complaint was originally addressed through the process set out in Part B above;
• Inform the complainant within two working days of the appeal being received of what is being done to investigate and resolve the appeal, and the expected time frame for resolution.

3. Resolve the Appeal

• Make a decision or referring to the appropriate people for a decision within 5 days of the complaint being received
• Inform the complainant of the outcome
  • • upheld (and if so, what will be done to resolve it)
    • resolved (and how this has been achieved); or
    • if no further action can be taken, the reasons for this.
• Inform the complainant of any options for further action if required.

A formal external complaints procedure may follow the process in Part D if the complainant is still not satisfied with the outcome. The complainant is entitled at any stage in the process to bring a complaint to an external body such as the NSW Legal Services Commissioner, Legal Aid NSW and/or the funder of the relevant Program.

When a complaint relates to either the CEO, Principal Solicitor, Chair of the WSCLC Board or delegate from the Chair, the complainant may raise the complaint verbally or in writing with someone else uninvolved, and the subject of the complaint won’t exercise any official decision-making capacity in relation to the complaint.

The CEO or Principal Solicitor as appropriate, will keep a confidential electronic register of complaints and appeals. The register will be maintained by the CEO or Principal Solicitor and will record the following for each complaint or appeal:

• Details of the complainant and the nature of the complaint;
• Date lodged;
• Action taken;
• Date of resolution and reason for decision;
• Indication of complainant being notified of outcome;
• Complainant response and any further action.

Copies of all correspondence will be kept electronically in the same location.

The complaints register and files will be confidential, and access is restricted to the CEO or Principal Solicitor, as appropriate.

A statistical summary of complaints and appeals will also be kept and maintained by the CEO and will be responsible for preparing quarterly report on complaints to the Board.

Results from this report will be reviewed by the Board and used to:

• inform service planning by including a review of complaints and appeals in all service planning, monitoring and evaluation activities
• inform decision making by including a report on complaints and appeals as a standard item on staff and management meeting agendas.