Housing Choices Australia - Complaints Brochure

Housing Choices Australia - Complaints Brochure

Compliments. Complaints. Appeals.

Your feedback is important to us.

We believe people have a right to complain.

We commit to:

• responding to complaints and appeals in a timely and fair way, • having an accessible complaint handling and resolution process that is available to everyone, • take all reasonable steps to investigate and resolve complaints within 30 days.

Giving feedback.

When something is starting to go wrong, we encourage you to tell us so we can fix the issue as soon as possible.

You do not need to try this option before making a formal complaint. You do not lose your opportunity to make a formal complaint if you choose to speak to us informally first.

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We listen intently to people using our services, their advocates or representatives and welcome both compliments and complaints made on your behalf by those who are authorised to do so.

We provide a safe environment for all residents and people including;

• Young people and children • People with disabilities • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples • People from culturally diverse backgrounds; and • The advocates and representatives of all the above

Complaints about safety, abuse and neglect need to be managed by dierent systems. We will tell you which system and what to expect in these situations.

The next steps.

How can I lodge a compliment or complaint?

What if I’m not happy with the outcome?

You can lodge a compliment or complaint by phone, in person, by email, letter or our online feedback form about any part of our service, the way we do business, or the advice we’ve given you.

In some cases following a complaint, you may feel that a decision made by us is not right and may wish to lodge an appeal or seek help from an external agency (see page 8).

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What happens when I lodge a complaint?

There will be some situations where we can solve your problem within a few days, but sometimes things can be a bit more complicated.

However we always aim to sort things out within 30 days. We’ll stay in touch through the process where we can and do our best to explain what we’ve done, and why.

In most cases, we can fix things quickly by just talking about them first, but sometimes you might still want to make a complaint.

Our Complaints Process:

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Listen.

Acknowledge.

Review.

We will issue you a formal acknowledgement letter within 2 days of your complaint being received. This will outline the issues of your concern, the next steps of the process and the person responsible for resolving your complaint.

Once you come to us with a complaint, our sta will listen to your complaint and guide you through our process.

We will reach out to you in your preferred way within 5 days to discuss your complaint. We will review the issue and prepare some options to support resolution.

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I’m still not happy. How do I appeal?

If you’ve made a complaint and you’re still not happy with the decision we made, you can appeal it.

There is no time limit on when appeals are raised with us. We feel it is important that any issue with our service, conduct, sta and complaint handling be addressed and resolved in a timely manner.

Email or call and advise that you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, provide the complaint number and our Quality Assurance Manager will contact you

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Collaborate.

Act.

Communicate.

We will discuss options with you to resolve your complaint. We will seek your ideas on how to resolve your complaint and what you think is most important to the issue.

We will tell you what we will do and how long it will take. We are committed to resolving all complaints within 30 days of getting them.

We will keep you informed of the resolution progress and when actions are completed. You will receive copies of all letters when the resolution is complete.

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I’m an NDIS resident.

If you’re not happy with aspects of the housing we’ve provided you under the NDIS, you can provide feedback directly to the NDIA.

If you have a complaint regarding any form of discrimination, you may contact the state-based authority or the Australian Human Rights Commission.

NDIS Participants can make a complaint about Housing Choices or any aspect of their NDIS experience direct to the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission. The Complaints Information for Tenants Factsheet provides an easy read version of our complaints process.

P 1300 365 419 www.humanrights.gov.au

This can be made available upon request.

P 1800 035 544 www.ndiscommission.gov.au

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Your privacy and confidentiality.

We respect your request to have your identity remain confidential and your personal information will only be disclosed if:

• required by law; or • is appropriate in the circumstances, and you have provided your consent.

You can choose to make a complaint anonymously to us. We will let you know if being anonymous is making it dicult to resolve your complaint.

What happens if I want to withdraw a complaint?

You may withdraw your complaint at any time by advising Housing Choices or, by notifying any other authority you have involved in your complaint.

Housing Choices will acknowledge the withdrawal of your complaint in writing, note the reason for the withdrawal, and close the complaint. To ensure your safety to make a complaint and be heard, we may follow up to make sure no one is forcing you to withdraw your complaint.

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I need help withmy complaint or appeal.

VIC

TAS

SA

NSW

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1300 558 181 03 9416 2577 1300 792 387 1800 606 313 03 9613 6222 1300 018 228 03 9651 1402

Consumer Aairs Victoria

www.consumer.vic.gov.au

Tenants Union Victoria

www.tuv.org.au

Victoria Legal Aid

www.legalaid.vic.gov.au

Justice Connect, Homeless Law

www.justiceconnect.org.au

Victorian Ombudsman

www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au

VCAT (Tribunal)

www.vcat.vic.gov.au

Victorian Housing Registrar

www.housingregistrar.vic.gov.au

1300 654 499 1300 652 641 1300 366 611 1800 001 170 03 6166 3628

Consumer Aairs Tasmania

www.consumer.tas.gov.au

Tenants Union Tasmania

www.tutas.org.au

Legal Aid Commission Tasmania

www.legalaid.tas.gov.au

Ombudsman Tasmania

www.ombudsmantas.gov.au

NRSCH Housing Registrar

www.dhhs.tas.gov.au

1800 060 462 1800 723 767 1800 182 150 08 7424 7206

Tenant Info + Advisory Service

www.syc.net.au

SACAT (Tribunal)

www.sacat.sa.gov.au

Ombudsman SA

www.ombudsman.sa.gov.au

Oce of Housing Regulation

www.sa.gov.au

131 882

Oce of Consumer + Business

www.cbs.sa.gov.au

1300 366 424

Legal Services Commission

www.lsc.sa.gov.au

133 220

NSW Fair Trading

www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au

02 8117 3700 1300 888 529 02 9286 1000 1300 006 228 1800 330 940

Tenants Union NSW

www.tenants.org.au

Legal Aid NSW

www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au

Ombudsman NSW

www.ombo.nsw.gov.au

NCAT (Tribunal)

www.ncat.nsw.gov.au

Community Housing Registrar

www.rch.nsw.gov.au

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Find us. All oce hours 9:00am - 5:00pm

Adelaide

Port Augusta

192 Waymouth St Adelaide SA 5000

21/50 Augusta Tce Port Augusta SA 5700

Devonport 5 Steele St

Preston

137 High St

Devonport TAS 7310

Preston VIC 3072

Hobart

Shorewell Park 11A Wiseman St

Level 7, 39 Murray St Hobart TAS 7000

Shorewell Plaza TAS 7320

Melbourne

Surry Hills

Level 3, 350 Queen St Melbourne VIC 3000

Suite 309, 410 Elizabeth St

Surry Hills NSW 2010

If you need help filling it out, giving us feedback, or making a complaint or appeal, call us on 1300 312 447 and ask to chat to a Complaints Coordinator or email complaintsandappeals @ hcau.org.au

For information on how we collect, use and disclose your information, visit our website.