This is the third part in a series of articles on complaints handling, what it involves and why schools need to implement effective complaints handling processes. The articles are based on a paper entitled ‘Managing Complaints - Walking the Tightrope between Ignorance and Knowledge’ presented by CompliSpace Managing Director James Field at the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association (ANZELA) Conference in Adelaide on 2 October 2014. The paper is available in full here.

Complaints handling is considered to be a central component in the governance infrastructure of any organisation and is noted as such in the Australian Standard on Good Governance Principles (AS 8000 - 2003 Good governance principles) (AS 8000) which includes references to the Australian Risk Management (ISO 31000 - 2009) and Compliance (AS 3806 - 2006)  Standards as well as to the Australian Complaints Handling Standard (ISO 10002-2014).

If you come across a reference to the Complaints Handling Standard AS 4269-1995 note that this is an old Australian Standard that was superseded by AS ISO 10002-2006. The 2006 Standard was itself recently been superseded by ISO 10002–2014 although the changes were purely technical in nature.

In essence, where an educational authority guideline references AS 4269, it should now be read as a reference to ISO 10002-2014 (the ‘Complaints Handling Standard’, ‘the Standard’ or ‘ISO 10002’).

The Complaints Handling Standard is referenced by educational authorities in Qld, WA, NT as well as in SA (where a draft guidance document developed in accordance with the Standard was released in April 2014).  The Standard is also referenced by other key regulators in Australia, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). ASIC requires all Australian Financial Services Licence holders and Australian Credit Licence holders to develop complaints handling programs based on the Standard.

For the uninitiated, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards can prove difficult reading. Unfortunately the Complaints Handling Standard does not present an exception to this rule. It does, however, provide valuable guidance for any school that wishes to implement a complaints handling system that works in practice.

The Complaints Handling Standard is developed upon a set of nine (9) guiding principals and provides detailed guidance in relation to the development of a complaints handling framework within which the key operational elements of a complaints handling process are managed. There is a significant amount of double up between the guiding principles and some of the operative parts of the Standard.

In an attempt to explain the Standard in plain terms and provide a platform for analysis of the different regimes that have been developed for Australian schools, the some of the key elements from the Standard that should be considered in order for a complaints handling program to work effectively are summarised below.

Definition - what is a complaint?

Perhaps one of the most obvious issues that needs to be addressed is the question of ‘what is a complaint?’ The Standard defines a ‘complaint’ as an – ’expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization, related to its products, or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected’.

Scope of a complaints handling program

Similarly, it is important to clearly identify the scope of the complaints handling program in a school. Is the program only available to parents and carers? Can students use the program? What about other key stakeholders; prospective parents, members of the local community, commercial suppliers, strategic partners etc? The scope of the program, and the level of management reporting it is capable of producing, will obviously affect how the program is designed and implemented.

Planning and design of a complaints handling framework

Before a school can start to effectively manage complaints, at a minimum its governors, its principal and members of its executive team, need to be committed to the process and from the outset address certain core infrastructure elements, namely:

Complaints Handling Policy and Procedures

First and foremost a school needs to document its complaints handling policy and procedures, taking into account any relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, so that they can be effectively communicated to and made available to relevant parties.

Visibility and Promotion

Visibility is the first guiding principle in the Standard. This requires information about how and where to complain, as well as information respect to how the complaints process works, to be well publicised and effectively communicated to key stakeholders. This requires information with respect to a school’s complaints handling policy and procedures to be clearly positioned on its public website.

Accessibility

The principle of accessibility requires the complaints handling process to be easily accessible to all complainants. This means that

• information about the process is readily accessible, for example, on a school’s public website;
• it is available in different languages and formats where relevant;
• there is flexibility in methods of making a complaint. Provision should be made for verbal complaints, not just written complaints;
• it should be easy to understand the system for making complaints; and
• it should be easy to actually make a complaint, for example through a dedicated form on a website, the provision of a dedicated email address, or a well publicised telephone number. 

Resource Allocation

In order to ensure that the complaints handling process operates effectively and efficiently school management need to identify the need for resources to be allocated. This is likely to involve allocation of resources to document, establish and maintain the program, recognising the time it will take for one or more staff members to manage complaints. In larger schools this may involve the use of computer software to capture and manage complaints.

The benefit of using software to capture complaints is that it enhances a school’s ability to analyse data and to provide reports to management that aid their decision-making processes.

Training

Staff training is critical if a complaints handling system is going to work in practice. All staff need to be trained on how to identify a complaint, when a complaint can be managed informally and when it should be escalated to a nominated ‘complaints officer’. Additional training needs to be provided to those people who are responsible for managing escalated complaints.

Appointment of a responsible individual/s to manage the complaints handling process

A school should always clearly allocate responsibility for managing escalated complaints to a responsible person who may or may not be designated the school’s ‘complaints officer’. The reality is that schools are unlikely to have a dedicated complaints officer but rather will need to clearly allocate responsibility for complaints handling to one or more senior members of staff.

Managing a complaint

Once a school’s complaints handling framework has been established and complaints start to be recognised, clear systems and procedures need to be established to manage the complaints received. This involves:

Capturing a complaint

In schools the process of capturing a complaint is not as easy as it may first seem. This really comes down to ensuring that all staff understand what a complaint is. This involves having a clear definition of the word ‘complaint’. If the definition from the Standard is adopted this means that any issue raised that is an ‘expression of dissatisfaction made to the school, related to its services, or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected’ should be considered a complaint and managed in accordance with the schools complaints handling procedures.

Acknowledging a complaint

Once a complaint is received it should be acknowledged as a complaint. This does not mean every complaint requires a formal written acknowledgement. Complaints of a less serious nature (which are most complaints) can be acknowledged verbally and resolved without the need for a formal investigation or indeed a written response. The key is that staff need to be trained as to how to effectively manage this process.

Generally it is only more serious complaints that require formal acknowledgment, investigation and responses. Often during the acknowledgement phase the complainant may be provided with a document that provides an overview of the school’s complaints handling process in order to clearly establish expectations at an early stage of the process.

Tracking

Notwithstanding the fact that a complaint is informal or less serious in nature, it should be recorded on a school’s complaints register. This is because many informal complaints received over time may indicate a systemic issue which, if not resolved, can lead to dissatisfaction amongst key stakeholders such as parents or students.

More serious complaints of course not only need to be recorded but the progress in resolving the complaint needs to be tracked and carefully monitored. This is especially so where a school has represented that it will respond to a complaint within certain timeframes. Tracking of complaints, usually through the allocation of a complaints status (e.g. new complaint, under investigation, resolved etc.) also provides valuable information for school management to assist them in identifying risks and enhanced decision making.

Responsiveness

Responsiveness is another key principle of complaints management. This includes effective acknowledgment as well as the establishment of clear timelines for investigating and responding to more serious complaints.

Objectivity

Each complaint should be addressed in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner. Complaints handling policies often refer to ensuring procedural fairness or natural justice during the complaints handling process.

Confidentiality

Finally, any personally identifiable information concerning the complainant should only be used for the purpose of addressing the complaint. Information with respect to the complaint must remain confidential and only be disclosed to staff within the school on a need to know basis. This prevents ‘loose lips’ and the danger of the matter escalating out of control on the school ‘rumour mill’.

In the next article, James will examine the remaining key elements which should be considered in order for a complaints handling program to work effectively which relate to record keeping, reporting and corrective action.