A new rights-based process for complaints – what providers can expect from us
Under the new Aged Care Act we manage complaints in a more rights-based way. We tested this holistic approach with a group of aged care providers. This allowed us to collect valuable feedback and improve the process which is reflected in the below changes.
What’s changing
When someone contacts us to make a complaint, we’ll record their story in their own words and give this to the provider as a complaint summary.
This will:
- shift the focus from breaking complaints down into separate issues to looking at the complaint as a whole
- help us better understand why a person has made a complaint to us
- help providers understand the older person’s experience.
These changes put older people and their rights at the centre of the complaints process. One provider told us the new approach “changes the way we view the complaint. We can see the complaint through the person's eyes and that helps us to respond to the complaint.”
What providers can expect from us
How we manage complaints will mostly stay the same. In most cases, we’ll ask the provider to either:
- contact the older person directly to resolve the complaint (the provider resolution approach)
- answer specific questions about the concerns in the complaint.
We’ll only ask providers for information that we need to resolve the complaint. This will:
- help providers prepare their responses
- reduce follow-up requests for more information
- resolve the complaint as quickly as possible.
What we need from providers
To help us handle complaints effectively, we need providers to:
- ask our Complaints Officer for more information if they need it so they more clearly understand the complaint or process
- respond to our questions and provide the documents we ask for. They should also include any other information that may help us understand or resolve the complaint. Providers can use the Better Practice Guide to Complaints Handling in Aged Care Services and Complaints Handling Checklist to help them with their response
- ask for an extension if they need it. Providers must explain why they need more time. If we have urgent concerns about an older person’s safety or wellbeing, we’ll work with the provider to find the most important information first.
Thank you to the providers that took part
We thank the providers who worked with us in the early testing phase. Your willingness to share your experience and feedback helped create a process that works for providers and older people.
More information
