Feedback, Compliments, and Complaints Policy

This policy sets out how any person can provide feedback and make compliments or complaints about any aspect of Red Frog for Families’ operations and the process of addressing or responding to feedback and complaints.

This policy applies to all Red frog for Families team, students, contractors, volunteers and all potential and existing participants, their family members, and other supporters.

The policy also applies to other service providers, government agencies, and members of the community. This policy is based on Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Social Services) data and reflect the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Complaints management and resolution) Rules 2018. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00634

• Compliment – an expression of praise, encouragement, or gratitude about an individual team member, a team, or a service.
• Complaint – an expression of dissatisfaction made to or about an organisation, related to its products, services, team members, or the handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected. For the purpose of this policy and procedure, a complaint is defined as an issue of a minor nature that can be resolved promptly or within 24 hours, and does not require a detailed investigation. Complaints include an expression of displeasure, such as poor service, and any verbal or written complaint directly related to the service (including general and notifiable complaints).
• General complaint – addresses any aspect of the service e.g. a lost clothing item or the service’s fees. The complaint must be dealt with as soon as is practicable to avoid escalation of the issue.
• Grievance – a formal statement of complaint that cannot be addressed immediately and involves matters of a more serious nature e.g. the service is in breach of a policy or the service did not meet the care expectations of a family.

Compliments, complaints, and other feedback provide:

• valuable information about participant satisfaction;
• and an opportunity to improve upon all aspects of its service.

Red Frog for Families records and handles feedback effectively in order to:

• identify areas for improvement;
• coordinate a consistent approach to complaint resolution;
• reduce the potential for future complaints; and
• allow for reporting and efficient allocation of resources.

Red Frog for Families’ feedback, compliment, and complaint handling system addresses the principles of:

• visibility and accessibility;
• responsiveness;
• assessment and investigation;
• feedback;
• continuous improvement; and
• service excellence.

Red Frog for Families seeks to build a responsive, efficient, effective, and fair complaint management system. Resolving complaints at the earliest opportunity in a way that respects and values the person’s feedback can:

• aid in recovering the person’s confidence about Red Frog for Families’ services;
• help prevent further escalation of the complaint.

Red Frog for Families’ approach to feedback, compliments, and complaints management ensures:

• people understand their rights and responsibilities;
• information on the feedback, compliment, and complaint management process is easily accessible;
• increased satisfaction of participants in the management of their compliments and complaints;
• the recording of data to identify existing or emerging trends or systemic issues;
• staff demonstrate an awareness of Red Frog for Families’ feedback, compliments, and complaints management processes;
• staff develop the range of skills and capabilities required to manage compliments, complaints, and feedback; and
• an organisational culture that is focused on effective, person-centred complaints resolution and utilising feedback for continuous improvement.