Has a customer ever lodged a complaint about their treatment by your section/division? Have you ever been the subject of a complaint by a customer?

If you have been complained about by a customer then you know that it can be a confronting experience. The Ombudsman encourages departments to view complaints in a positive light as an opportunity to learn how to do things better. However there is no doubt that most of us would prefer not to be singled out for having made a mistake, which in some cases can be costly to your department or have highly detrimental consequences for your customers.

Ensuring that any decisions you make in the course of your duties are appropriate, well reasoned and lawful, will go a long way to avoiding complaints by customers. If complaints are made notwithstanding your good decision making, you will be able to point to the documented reasons for your decision in justification for your actions.

Review these helpful hints and next time you need to make a decision, use this list to help you confirm that you have met all the requirements for good decision making.

1. Check your legal authority
• Do you have the legal authority to make the decision or take the action?
• Has a specific legislative power been properly delegated to you to make the decision?
• Do you have in your possession a document of delegation signed by the person who has the statutory power to delegate?
• Do you need to seek legal advice?
2. Observe legal requirements
• Have you observed all procedural requirements laid down by law for making a decision? eg. making a decision within a statutory timeframe for applications under the Information Act.
3. Act in accordance with common law
• Have you considered common law principles? eg. natural justice
• Is there a legal decision or precedent that is adverse to your agency and if so, have you sought legal advice?
• When seeking legal advice, have you ensured your lawyer is briefed as fully and accurately as possible on all relevant facts of the case as well as previous decisions made by your agency in similar cases?
4. Act in accordance with any legally binding document, contract or court order
5. Have you sought legal advice to ensure your decision is not contrary to any relevant contracts, wills, court orders or other documents?
6. Establish prerequisite facts
   • Have you checked whether there are certain facts or preconditions in the statute that must exist before your decision can be taken? eg. an applicant for a liquor licence may need to erect a prescribed sign on the premises for a certain period before an application can be decided.

Download these hints and more at http://www.nt.gov.au/omb_hcscc/ombudsman/publications/checklist.pdf (70KB PDF)

The case of the missing application

A person (let’s call him ‘Fred’) lodged a job application by hand for a particular public sector vacancy before the closing date. Unfortunately his application then went missing for a short time, and when it later turned up, the closing date had passed.

Fred was told that his application would not be considered because it was received late. He lodged a complaint with the agency but was unsuccessful in having the decision changed. Fred lost the opportunity to be considered for the job.

Relevant principles of decision-making

• The agency had failed to follow its procedures on handling job applications, leading to the application going missing.
• After Fred had made the agency aware of the situation, the agency had applied its policy about late applications inflexibly. It had not given proper, genuine and realistic consideration to the merits of Fred’s case.
• The administrative error which led to the application going missing was not promptly rectified.
• The agency’s letter to Fred advising him of the outcome of his complaint was brief and did not supply adequate reasons.

The outcome
The Ombudsman’s office made inquiries with the agency. The agency, to its credit, took prompt remedial action. Although it was too late for Fred to be considered for the job, the agency reviewed its recruitment procedures and introduced a system of receipts for hand-delivered applications.

The Ombudsman recommended that Fred should get a full explanation and a written apology from the agency. The Ombudsman also recommended that the agency provide more information to the public on its web site about recruitment procedures.

The agency agreed and implemented all these recommendations. Fred was informed that, although he had missed out on the job, his complaint to the agency and the Ombudsman had led to an improvement in procedures and should prevent a similar error happening again.

Administrative decisions

“Reasoned and principled administrative decisions are an indispensable element in a modern democracy.”

Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason,
Fifteenth Annual Report (1990-1991), Administrative Review Council, p17.