I recently had an unfavourable decision made against me regarding social security payments. I had a horrible experience trying to sort this problem out. Not only do I believe the decision was incorrect but the staff were rude to me, ignored my calls and never phoned me back. How can I complain about this?
Lawyer Answers (1): Answers from lawyers are general preliminary responses. They are not formal legal advice and cannot taken account of all your circumstances. They do not create a lawyer–client relationship.
Answer by Alison Christou, Brisbane 4000 QLD
- Wanting to have your say about government is certainly not unreasonable. In fact it is a large part of Australia’s system of public law. For those aspects of a decision that you think included rudeness, laziness and carelessness there are better avenues than the review or appeals processes.
- Start with the department’s internal complaints process and set out a clear summary of the complaint that you want to make. Leave the decision itself out as the complaints officer cannot usually change this. However they are certainly open to hearing about bad manners, poor communication and unmet promises.
- Approaching your State or Federal Ombudsman can be a next move if these issues around poor service and behaviour are not answered. Their initial service officers can help you to work out the right path to take with your complaint.