Service delivery charter

Our service

We investigate complaints about the actions and decisions of Queensland agencies. We use the word ‘agencies’ to describe all state government departments, local councils and public authorities that we can investigate. We work with these agencies to improve decision-making and administrative practices. 

Sometimes agencies use non-government entities to deliver services to the community. We can also investigate those entities.

Our service is free and independent. We assess complaints within our jurisdiction and make recommendations to rectify unlawful, unreasonable or unjust decisions and improve administrative practice.

We provide education and advice as the oversight agency for the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 (PID Act).

We promote the humane treatment of detainees and the prevention of harm through reviews, inspections and independent reporting under the Inspector of Detention Services Act 2022 (IDS Act).

The strategic plan provides more information on how we achieve this.

When you contact us, you can expect:

• staff who are courteous, helpful, professional and sensitive to diverse needs
• your complaint will be handled according to our privacy plan, fairly and in a timely way - find out how seriously we take privacy
• if we don't have the power to investigate your complaint, we will advise you as soon as we can about where to take your complaint
• clear explanations about what we can and cannot do, reasons for our decisions and any recommendations we may make
• a preliminary assessment of your complaint within approximately 10 days
• progress updates at least once a month if your complaint is investigated.

Find out more about our complaints process.

Making contact

• Telephone: (07) 3005 7000
  131 450 (for translation service)
  National Relay Service (give our number, 3005 7000, and they will call us)
• Online: Make a complaint
• Post: GPO Box 3314, Brisbane, QLD 4001

When you contact us by telephone, you can expect:

• your call will be answered promptly and professionally between the hours of 9.00am-4.00pm on business days. (please note, our phones will be unattended between 9:30am and 11:00am on the last Tuesday of each month due to staff training)
• the person who answers will help or refer you to another agency that can help
• the person to get back to you within a reasonable time in the event we are unable to help you immediately.

When you make an online complaint, you will immediately receive an automated acknowledgment. When you make a complaint by email, fax or letter, you can expect an acknowledgement within five working days of receipt. When we contact you, we will communicate with you in plain English and respond to your concerns and queries.

Our commitment to accessibility

Our services are available to all people and we are committed to ensuring that we are accessible to everyone. 

How you can help us

We are committed to providing a timely, effective and independent investigation service.

To help us provide our service, we ask you to use the agency’s complaints management system before you contact us. This will give the agency the opportunity to fix the problem. It’s unlikely we will be able to help you with your complaint until you have a final response from the agency through its complaints management system.

If you need to contact us, we ask that you provide a concise summary of your complaint and include relevant supporting documentation (such as letters or emails). You should also tell us about the result you wish to achieve. 

We need this information to decide what to do next. If your complaint issue is unclear to us, we may ask you to more simply state the action or decision you are complaining about. 

We ask that you: 

• Be polite, willing to listen and respectful.
• Inform us about any particular needs you may have. 
• Provide accurate, clear and concise information about your complaint.
• Respond promptly to any requests for further information.
• Keep us up-to-date if circumstances change or you have new information.

We know that when you come to us, you may be in difficult circumstances and experiencing distress. We will do our best to help but will not tolerate abusive behaviour towards our staff. 

We will warn you if your behaviour is becoming unreasonable. If you do not respond to our warnings, we may choose to stop communicating with you or put in place another arrangement, such as only contacting you in writing.

Are you unhappy with our decision?

If you are unhappy with our decision, you can ask for a review. Reviews will be conducted by, or under the supervision of, another officer of equal or greater seniority than the officer who originally made the decision. Find out how to have your decision reviewed. 

Are you unhappy with our level of service?

If you are unhappy with the way you have been treated or the level of service you received from one of our officers, find out how to complain about our service. 

State government departments, local councils and public authorities

• provide advice and help to develop effective complaint management practices
• provide advice and help to improve the quality of agency practices and procedures
• provide information about how to manage public interest disclosures in accordance with the PID Act and Standards
• treat officers fairly and with respect during interviews and discussions about complaints
• offer advice about how to handle our investigations
• give agencies a reasonable time to respond to our requests for information and comment on complaints that may lead to us making a public report
• make practical recommendations.

How agencies can help our investigations

To help us fulfil our charter commitments, we ask agencies to:

• respond to our requests for information and documents in plain English and in a timely way
• provide clear, accurate and complete information, and respond specifically to questions asked
• state your agency's case logically and fairly
• acknowledge inadequacies and be willing to address them through improved policy or procedures
• give careful consideration to recommendations we make, or requests to take specific actions at the completion of an investigation and implement them wherever possible
• record and analyse complaints information to improve customer service.

Your feedback is important

We value your feedback on our service and how we conduct our business. Your comments provide us with valuable information to improve services. You can contact us by telephone, in writing, email or letter or via our online enquiry and feedback form.

Once your case has been closed you will be emailed an invitation to respond anonymously via online survey about your experience.