Making a complaint
The Attorney-General's Department regards complaints or feedback as a way of both assessing and improving our performance. We have a complaints handling process to ensure, where possible, that complaints are resolved promptly and satisfactorily and that our procedures are improved.
What is a complaint?
A complaint may be about:
- Standard of services provided, or
- Diligence, competency, behaviour or attitude of staff.
Comments or concerns about Government policy should be directed to your parliamentary representative or the responsible Minister.
Our commitment
We will investigate and try to resolve complaints:
- Quickly (preferably immediately),
- Fairly,
- Confidentially and
- As informally as possible.
Who to contact if you have a complaint
If you have a complaint or wish to provide feedback about the Attorney-General's Department, contact the person you have been dealing with, or that person's supervisor.
If you do not know who to speak to, you should contact the Director, Corporate Governance and Coordination Section, by telephone (02) 6250 6707, facsimile (02) 6250 5948, or e-mail complaints@ag.gov.au.
Our mailing address for complaints or feedback is:
Director
Corporate Governance and Coordination Section
Attorney-General's Department
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit Barton ACT 2600
The Insolvency and Trustee Service, Australia (ITSA - which is part of the Attorney-General's Department), has separate complaints handling procedures. Some ITSA clients have specific statutory review and appeal rights in relation to decisions made under the Bankruptcy Act. Details are available from an ITSA office.
You also have a right to complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
What we will do
When you call us to make a complaint, we will be courteous, listen closely and get as much detail as possible about the complaint. The relevant facts of your complaint will be written down by the person you call so that you won't have to repeat the information if you are referred to another person.
If we can resolve your complaint on the spot, we will do so. If we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we will refer it to the appropriate person within the Department.
All relevant information will be passed to that person and we will advise you of their name, position and telephone number.
The person dealing with your complaint will try to make contact with you within one working day of receiving it, and will settle with you a timeframe for resolving it. If the agreed timeframe cannot be met, you will be told why and when you can expect to receive a response.
If we cannot help you, we will tell you about other avenues available for resolving your complaint.
If you are not satisfied
If you are unhappy with our response or with the way your complaint is being handled, you may ask that it be referred to the appropriate division or office head. All complaints referred to a division or office head will be fully investigated and we will aim to respond within 10 working days of referral.
If you tell us that you are not happy with the response from the division or office head, the matter will be referred to the Department's Secretary. We will inform you of the Secretary's decision and, if necessary, of further review processes available to you.
Improving our performance
We will investigate the circumstances which lead to your complaint and, where necessary, steps will be taken to ensure that similar problems do not happen again.
We welcome your feedback, positive or negative, as it helps us identify the things we do well and those that we need to improve.