This document outlines the customer complaint procedure for several Queensland public safety agencies. It defines what constitutes a customer complaint and how complaints should be classified as either simple or significant. Simple complaints can be resolved by frontline employees, while significant complaints must be referred to a Complaints Handling Manager. The procedure details how complaints should be managed depending on their complexity, including options for resolution, timeframes, documentation, and an internal review process for dissatisfied complainants. The goal is to handle all feedback, whether positive or negative, in an equitable, objective and timely manner.

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Customer Complaints
Procedure
_____________________________________
March 2015

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1. PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance and outline the requirements to
employees in handling customer complaints.
2. APPLICATION / SCOPE
This procedure applies to customer complaints received from any person about the services,
actions or decisions of the Public Safety Business Agency (PSBA), Queensland Fire and
Emergency Services (QFES), or the Office of the Inspector-General, Emergency
Management (IGEM) (the Agencies). It does not apply to employee complaints.
It applies to all staff employed by the Agencies, including volunteers and sworn Queensland
Police Service (QPS) officers seconded to, or on a work performance arrangement with
PSBA.
This procedure does not apply to the entity, the QPS (those sworn and unsworn staff in the
QPS and not seconded to the PSBA).
3. POLICY STATEMENT
The Agencies welcome feedback (whether positive or negative) about their services,
decisions and the conduct of their employees and volunteers engaged in the delivery of
services. All complaints will be handled in an equitable, objective and timely manner.
This procedure is based on the requirements of section 219A of the Public Service Act 2008.
It also complies with the Australian Standard on Customer Satisfaction – Guidelines for
complaint handling in organisations (ISO 10002:2006).
4. IS IT A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT?
A complaint is a customer complaint if it raises concerns about the service, action or
decision of an Agency or its staff by a person who is apparently directly affected by the
service or action.
Examples include a complaint about a decision or failure to make a decision by an
employee; an act or failure to act of the Agency; the formulation of a proposal or intention by
the Agency; the making of a recommendation by the Agency; or the customer service
provided by an employee.
However, not every expression of dissatisfaction needs to be handled as a customer
complaint including:
• when a person responds adversely when provided with information that they do not
agree with or accept. Examples include: general comments from a customer directed
towards an employee such as “you don’t know what you are talking about” or “that’s
not right”; or
• when a person complains about an issue that does not involve them being directly
affected by a service or decision of the Agency, i.e. they are not a customer at the
time. Examples include: a person complains that there is a residential unit complex
which does not comply with fire regulations, or a road user complains that they
observed a PSBA/IGEM vehicle driving over the speed limit without apparent
justification.

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Complaints raised by employees or volunteers about any aspect of their employment or
engagement with the Agencies are not customer complaints, and are subject to the
Employee Complaints Procedure or Grievances Policy.
Complaints alleging employee misconduct or corrupt conduct will not be dealt with under
this procedure and are subject to relevant Human Resources and Ethical Standards policies.
5. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
After a customer complaint has been received, consideration should be given to the
following:
• who is the subject of the complaint;
• what issue/s have been raised;
• what outcome is the complainant seeking;
• how should the complaint be classified;
• who should deal with the complaint; and
• how should the complaint be dealt with.
6. WHO SHOULD DEAL WITH THE COMPLAINT?
When a customer complaint is received, a determination is to be made in relation to who
should deal with it. This determination will depend on whether the complaint is classified as
a simple or significant customer complaint.
6.1 Simple customer complaints
Simple customer complaints:
• involve minimal risk or detriment to the complainant or the Agency;
• do not require formal investigation; and
• are suitable for local resolution.
Examples include complaints about incorrectly addressed correspondence, minor
communication issues/misunderstandings, or minor delays in dealing with the matter.
These complaints are more likely to have been made informally and directly to employees.
Complaints of this nature are suited to frontline informal resolution.
If a simple customer complaint is received by an employee, the employee should attempt to
resolve it informally with the complainant. However, an employee should refer the complaint
to their supervisor if any of the following issues arise:
• they are not confident they can deal with the complaint;
• the complainant requests someone else deal with the complaint;
• the problem is clearly outside their area of expertise; or
• the complainant is dissatisfied after attempts have been made to resolve the
complaint.

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6.2 Significant customer complaints
Significant customer complaints are those that are more serious or complex with medium or
high level of risk/detriment to the complainant or the Agencies.
Examples include complaints about decisions; extensive delays; significant service delivery
concerns; a challenge to the conduct or competency of an employee; or serious
communication difficulties.
These complaints are more likely to have been made formally in writing.
Significant complaints received by an employee must be referred as soon as practicable to
the relevant Agency’s Complaints Handling Manager. The Complaints Handling Manager
will refer the complaint to the ESU for recording purposes. See section 13 for a list of
Complaints Handling Managers.
Significant complaints will be dealt with by the Agency subject of the complaint. The
Complaints Handling Manager will determine who deals with a Significant complaint and
ensure that the complaint is dealt with appropriately.
7. HOW TO MANAGE A COMPLAINT
When assessing complaints, consideration should be given to the nature and seriousness of
the complaint; the quantity and quality of information in the complaint; and whether the
presenting issues can be productively dealt with.
Anonymous complaints should be assessed against the same criteria.
7.1 Simple complaints
Employees should:
• respond to the complainant in an objective, polite and courteous manner;
• engage with the complainant to correctly understand the complaint;
• seek clarification and confirm the issues, relevant information, and outcomes sought
(i.e. summarise the main points made and ask whether you have got it right);
• clarify the application of any relevant policies or procedures;
• deal with the complaint;
• resolve the complaint (see section 8 for options to resolve complaints) and generally
acknowledge the complainant’s sense of grievance, justified or not;
• if unable to resolve the matter immediately, advise the complainant about the
complaints process and indicative timeframe for a response; and
• take reasonable action to prevent similar complaints in the future.
If the employee is not able to satisfactorily resolve the complaint then the matter should be
referred to the relevant Agency’s Complaint Handling Manager as a significant complaint.
7.2 Significant complaints
Employees should refer significant complaints as soon as practicable to their Agency’s
Complaint Handling Manager. The Complaint Handling Manager will:
• arrange for an acknowledgement letter within five business days if the complaint
cannot be resolved within that period;

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• refer the complaint to a senior manager to be managed/dealt with.
The employee dealing with the complaint will:
• review/deal with the matters complained about (see section 8 for options for dealing
with a complaint);
• where appropriate seek advice from other functional units or officers with particular
expertise;
• seek to deal with the complaint within 30 days; and
• provide a written response to the complainant addressing the issues raised and
providing a specific outcome in relation to their complaint.
Details of the outcome of all significant complaints must be forwarded back to the
Complaints Handling Manager. The Complaints Handling Manager will ensure that the
complaint was dealt with and the outcome is appropriate in the circumstances.
The Complaints Handling Manager will advise the ESU of the result of the complaint.
8. OPTIONS FOR DEALING WITH A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT
Customer complaints can be dealt with by:
• taking no action (in rare cases for e.g. trivial/vexatious complaints, however, the
complainant should be advised of the reason);
• informal resolution by conciliation with the complainant;
• mediation;
• fact finding; or
• investigation (as a last resort).
9. INTERNAL REVIEW OF A CUSTOMER COMPLAINT
Complainants will be provided with an avenue of internal review if they are dissatisfied with
how their complaint has been dealt with. An employee who receives a request for a review
from a complainant must forward the request to the relevant Agency’s Complaints Handling
Manager. The Complaints Handling Manager will refer the request to the following persons
for review:
• PSBA:Business Unit Director/Manager
• QFES Corporate: Executive Director
• QFES Regional Operations: Chief Superintendent
• QFES RFSQ: Regional Manager
• QFES SES: Regional Director/Manager
• IGEM: Business Unit Director/Manager
The reviewing officer should have had no previous involvement in the matter, have no
conflict of interest and be impartial, qualified and/or experienced to conduct the review. It is
preferable that the reviewing officer be more senior to the officer who dealt with the
complaint.
Internal reviews will be conducted in accordance with natural justice.

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Sufficient information should be gathered to make a decision, provide reasons and identify
appropriate actions for resolution.
The reviewing officer should document their findings and recommendations and decide the
outcome including any remedies.
The review officer will forward a report of their review to the Complaints Handling Manager.
The Complaints Handling Manager will advise the ESU of the outcome of the review.
Complainants who are dissatisfied with an internal review of their complaint will be advised
to contact the Queensland Ombudsman if they wish to seek an external examination of the
matter.
10. OUTCOME ADVICE TO THE COMPLAINANT
Some possible outcomes of a complaint include:
• an expression of empathy or regret that the complainant has suffered some form of
detriment, without admitting any fault;
• expediting the work on a matter where there has been some delay;
• offering an apology where it is apparent that an officer was at fault;
• providing explanations and giving reasons for a decision or action;
• undertaking some remedial action; and/or
• providing training/counselling to the officer concerned.
It may not always be possible to satisfy a complainant. Common sense will dictate whether
the employee handling the complaint has done everything reasonably possible to resolve the
complainant’s concerns. The complainant should be told in clear terms what the Agency can
and cannot do in relation to their desired outcomes.
11. REPORTING
It is important that all significant customer complaints (including those escalated from simple
to significant) are referred to the relevant Complaints Handling Manager and reported to the
ESU (for recording purposes), unless the Business Unit has in place a formal process for
recording significant customer complaints (for example, Blue Card Services, PSBA has a
process for recording customer complaints in relation to decisions made about whether or
not to issue a Blue Card).
Simple customer complaints that are resolved informally at the local level do not have to be
recorded and reported to the Complaints Handling Manager.
The ESU manages a customer complaints database which requires the following
information:
• the date the complaint was received, acknowledged and finalised;
• the name of the complainant;
• a précis of the complaint;
• the complainant’s desired outcome (if provided);
• the name of the officer subject of the complaint;
• the outcome of the complaint; and

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• particulars in relation to any review of the complaint.
It is a statutory requirement that each Agency publish on their website (by 30 September)
the number of customer complaints actioned in the financial year. By 31 July, the ESU will
provide each Agency with the number of customer complaints referred to the ESU during the
previous financial year.
12. MONITORING EFFECTIVENESS
De-identified complaints information will be used by the Agencies to identify complaint trends
and to identify improvements in the way services are provided to the Queensland
community.
The Agencies will regularly review the performance of the customer complaints system, to
determine:
• the level of compliance with this procedure, particularly in relation to resolution
timeframes; and
• if any changes are required to the complaint handling process to improve outcomes.
13. COMPLAINTS HANDLING MANAGERS
PSBA: Investigations Manager, ESU
ethicalstandards.unit@psba.qld.gov.au
℡ (07) 3239 0156
QFES: Executive Director, Operational Service Improvement & Performance Directorate
russell.neuendorf@qfes.qld.gov.au
℡ (07) 3635 3021
IGEM: Director, Performance, Reporting and Policy Analysis
Alison.spruce@igem.qld.gov.au
℡ (07) 3224 8684
14. ASSISTANCE AND APPROVAL
For assistance, contact the Investigations Manager, ESU
ethicalstandards.unit@psba.qld.gov.au
℡ (07) 3239 0156
Policy Owner: Executive Director, Ministerial and Executive Services
ED.Ministerial&ExecServices@psba.qld.gov.au
℡ (07) 3227 7409
Kelvin Anderson
Chief Executive Officer
Public Safety Business Agency
Approval date: 24/03/2015
Review date: One year from the approval
date, however may be triggered earlier by a
change in the complaints management
environment.