AMIDA

Action for More Independence

and Dignity in Accommodation

COMPLAINTS POLICY

 

 

Ross House,

1st Floor, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000

Telephone: 9650 2722 Fax: 9654 8575

E mail: amida@infoxchange.net.au

 

Reviewed: 7th August, 2001

 

Amended……………………

 

Approved 11th September, 2001

 

                               

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

 

 

 

We take complaints seriously.

 

If you are not happy about a person or something that has happened at AMIDA:

 

·    First: talk to the person who has upset you, if you are able to.

 

·    If you don’t want to do this or it doesn’t work: talk to a worker privately. Take a friend if you like. The worker will take written notes.

 

·    If this still doesn’t work: talk (or better write) to a committee member.

 

·    The committee member will begin the complaints procedure.

 

·    There are other places you can go to complain about some things. The Equal Opportunity Commission [(03) 9281 7111] can help with most complaints about discrimination.

 

 

 

 

AMIDA is a group for people with disabilities. We welcome you all and hope you can take part in our activities.

 

If you have any kind of problem, or you are not happy with AMIDA we have a Complaints Procedure which you can use to help solve this problem.

 

You have a legal right to make a complaint.

A complaint is when you tell someone you are not happy about something and why.

 

We encourage you to make a complaint if you have a problem with AMIDA. If you want to, you can have an advocate to support you in making a complaint.

 

 

It is OK to make a complaint!

 

 

By making a complaint you are helping yourself and you are also helping AMIDA to make our services better for everyone.

 

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What is a complaint?

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A Complaint is when you tell someone you are not happy about something and why.

 

A Complaint is sometimes called a Grievance.

 

Here are some examples of Complaints:

 

·       the people at AMIDA did not listen to me

 

·       someone from AMIDA was rude to me

 

·       a worker from AMIDA did not do the things they said they would do

 

 

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What is a Complaints Procedure?

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A Complaints Procedure is the steps you have to go through to have a complaint or problem sorted out.

 

The Complaints Procedure does not cover everything. These are the things you cannot make a complaint about:

 

·       when you don’t get your way in a decision that the whole group legally made. An example of this could include when the committee or the association votes for a decision.

 

·       actions or decisions made by other organisations or groups.

 

 

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Why do we need a

Complaints Procedure?

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·       to protect the rights of the people using AMIDA, our workers and our volunteers and make sure their complaints are listened to and not forgotten about

 

·       to make  sure you get a fair go

 

·       to make sure the workers at AMIDA do a good job

 

·       to make sure that if you make a complaint that something is done about it – to check that if there is a problem it is looked at

 

·       to make sure that people using AMIDA have a real say and are listened to

 

 

 

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Who might you have a

complaint against?

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·       the Committee or one of its members

 

·       a paid worker

 

·       a member of AMIDA

 

·       someone else using AMIDA

 

·       volunteer workers or students

 

 

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Who can use the

Complaints Procedure

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·       The Committee or one of its members

·       A paid worker

·       A member of AMIDA

·       Someone else using AMIDA

·       Volunteer workers or students

·       Staff of AMIDA

·       Someone outside AMIDA

 

 

Your Rights to Information and Help

 

 

·       you have a right to talk about things you are not happy with and to make a complaint about the things making you unhappy

 

·       you have a right to make a complaint without fear of victimisation – this means you should not have to worry about being hassled or picked on if you make a complaint

 

·       you have a right to be respected and to be listened to when you are talking about your own opinions or feelings

 

·       you have a right to a copy of AMIDA’s Constitution

 

·       you have a right to a copy of AMIDA’s job descriptions – these are a list of things each worker should do at  work

 

·       you have a right to have your own copy of this Complaints Procedure

 

·       you have a right to get help from people, including the people who work at AMIDA

 

·       you have a right to get help from other groups outside AMIDA

 

·       you have a right to an advocate of your own choice at all times

Before you make a complaint…

 

 

 

Before you make a complaint you need to know a few things about how AMIDA works:

 

·       the money to pay for AMIDA comes from the Federal Department of Family and Community Services  - this is a government department based in Canberra

 

·       the AMIDA Committee tells the workers what they should do at work

 

·       AMIDA has a Constitution  - this is a set of rules which AMIDA has to follow

 

There are some things you can do to try and fix a problem before you make an official complaint:

 

·     try to talk to the person you have the problem with. You might be able to work things out for yourselves

 

·     ask someone else to help you talk to the person you have the problem with. This could be an independent third person or an advocate that you have chosen yourself

 

You do not have to do these things if you don’t want to. 

You can use the Complaints Procedure straight away if you want!

 

How to Make a Complaint

 

1

 

 

·     You can make your complaint to anyone at AMIDA.

     This person could be:- 

a rights worker

the Chairperson

a Committee member

the whole Committee

 

·     Tell the person what you are unhappy about and why you

      are unhappy.

·     You can also talk to someone from outside AMIDA and

      get them to help you make a complaint. This could be a

     friend or an advocate.

·     There is a list of groups you can speak to at the end of

      this section on how to make a complaint.

 

2

 

·     You will be asked to fill in a Complaints Form.

·     This form will help AMIDA to make sure that something

     is done about your problem.

·     The person you speak to will talk to you about your 

    complaint and what you should do next.

 

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·     Your complaint will be kept confidential. This means that

    only the people involved in your complaint will know

    about it.

·     You will be told who these people are.

·     The department that funds us may wish to see a record of 

your  complaint. (This record will have all

identifying information removed.)We will ask you to sign

an agreement  to allow this. 

 

·       No one else will know that you have made a complaint.

   

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·     AMIDA will take your complaint seriously.

·     Within 5 working days you will get a letter from AMIDA to to plan a meeting with you.

 

5

 

·     At this meeting we will talk about how to sort out your

    complaint.

·     We will also work out how much time we expect to take

    to sort out your problem.

   This will let you know  when things are supposed to

    happen.

   You won’t have to talk about the details of your

    complaint at this first meeting.

   It is just a meeting to plan what will happen next.

 

·     You are very welcome to bring a friend or an

     advocate to this meeting to support you.

 

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·     A second meeting may be called to try to fix

    your complaint.

   You might be asked to talk about your complaint at

     this meeting.

·     If your complaint is about another person you may be ed asked to talk about your problem with this person.

   You or the other person do not have to do this if you do

    not want to.

   If you do not want to speak out at this meeting you do not

    have to.

·     It is your complaint and your choice.

·     You can choose to ask someone else to speak out for you.

·     Remember you cannot be forced to drop your complaint.

    

 

 

·     Some complaints may be very serious. Examples of

    very serious complaints are assault, theft, sexual

    harassment and sexual assault.

·     An assault is when someone hurts your body.

·     A theft is when a person takes something that belongs to

    you.

 

If your complaint is a very serious one, you can choose to

go to the Police for help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMIDA COMPLAINTS FORM

 

Name of person making a complaint

 

 

 

Address

(optional)

 

 

 

Telephone/

Contact No

 

 

 

Name of advocate or support person if there is one

 

 

What is the complaint?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there anyone else involved in the complaint that we need to know about?

 

 

 

 

The signature of the person making the complaint              Date

 

 

Signed on behalf of:

 

 

(Is confidential - keep secret.)

 

Other Groups Who Can Help You

with Complaints

 

 

 

Government Services

 

Complaints Resolution and                           Free call: 1800 880 052

Referral Service                                           TTY free call: 1800 301 130

The CRSS is a service that                           Fax: 02 9318 1372

helps people with a disability sort                  Postal Address

out complaints about disability                      Locked Bag 2705,

employment and advocacy services              Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

funded by the Commonwealth Dept

of Family and Community Services                                                              

 

Office of Public Advocate and                     5th Floor, 436 Lonsdale St

Community Visitors Program                       Melbourne  3000

                                                                   Phone: 9603 9500

                                                                   TTY: 9603 9529

 

Equal Opportunity                                        Level 3, 380 Lonsdale St

Commission (Human Rights                         Melbourne 3000

Advice)                                                       Phone: 9281 7100

 

Dispute Settlement Centres                           Level 3, 235 Queen St

                                                                   Melbourne 3000

Phone: 9603 8370

 

Advocacy Groups

 

Disability Employment Action                       8th Floor, 55 Swanston Street

Centre (DEAC)                                            Melbourne 3000

                                                                   Phone: 9650 2533

 

Citizen Advocacy                                         11 Strathalbyn Street

                                                                   East Kew 3102

                                                                   Phone: 9859 9421

 

Reinforce                                                     2nd Floor, Ross House

                                                                   247 Flinders Lane

                                                                   Melbourne 3000

                                                                   Phone: 9650 7855

This is a group run by people with an intellectual disability

 

Legal Services

 

Victoria Legal Aid                                        350 Queens Street

                                                                   Melbourne 3000

                                                                   Phone: 9269 0234

 

Villamanta Legal Service                               6-8 Villamanta Street

                                                                   Geelong West 3218

                                                                   Phone: 522 929 2925

 

Disability Discrimination Law                       1st Floor

Service (DDLS)                                           212 King Street

                                                                   Melbourne 3000

                                                                   Phone: 9602 4877

                                                                   TTY: 9602 4135

 

Department of Health and                             Phone: 9285 8544

Family Services – Complaints Officer

 

Police                                                          Phone: 000

 

 

Remember!

 

It’s your right to complain so

 

SPEAK UP!