External Complaints & Feedback Policy & Procedure 

Purpose 

Brave Foundation (Brave) is committed to providing high quality services to participants and organisational partners, while seeking to understand and support their rights and what is important to them.  

The purpose of this Policy is to provide guidance on the management of complaints and feedback received by the organisation from external parties.

Policy Statement 

Brave is committed to fostering a culture of openness, accountability, and continuous improvement. We value all feedback and complaints as vital opportunities to learn and grow. Our organisation is dedicated to maintaining an environment where individuals feel safe, respected, and supported in raising concerns or offering suggestions for improvement

Receiving feedback enables Brave to reflect on its service offerings and processes and improve the quality of its organisational operations.  It also gives opportunities to enhance trust and confidence with stakeholders and forms part of Brave’s commitment to continuous improvement by identifying areas of service delivery that can be improved.

This Policy seeks to ensure that those that provide feedback or make a complaint to Brave:

• Have their complaint or feedback acted upon 
• Receive a timely and respectful response to their concern/s 
• Be kept informed throughout the process and be advised of the outcome (including how their feedback has led to service improvement) 
• Ensure that they understand their options if they are dissatisfied with the process or an outcome 

This Policy also reaffirms the recognition of ‘Lived Experience’, as documented via the Model of Participation.  Brave recognises the right of our participants to seek, receive and impart information about the services they are receiving, and allow for feedback from those experiences to further inform the way in which Brave designs and delivers its programs.

Scope 

This policy applies to the Board of Directors and all employees of Brave (including casual/seconded/contractual staff/ /placements/interns) and volunteers, and to any external complaint, regardless of who makes it. 

This Policy is not intended to cover internal complaints made by Brave staff in relation to the organisation. For information regarding internal complaints and grievances please refer to the Internal Complaints Policy. It is not the intention of this Policy to cover allegations made of fraud or corruption; for information regarding these types of complaints please refer to the Fraud and Corruption Policy.

Some external complaints may fall under the protection of ‘Protected Disclosure’, or ‘Whistleblowing’. For further information regarding what may constitute a protected disclosure, the process for making a disclosure, and the rights and responsibilities of a person making a Protected Disclosure, please refer to the Protected Disclosure Policy.

1. Lodging a complaint or feedback 

Brave recognises that there may be circumstances where participants, organisational partners or stakeholders are dissatisfied with either the services being offered or an individual employee’s performance and wish to make a formal complaint, or provide feedback.

All participants in Brave programs are provided with hardcopy information regarding their rights and the process for lodging a complaint or giving feedback in their Welcome Pack (See Appendix 1: Give Feedback or Make a Complaint).

Feedback can be positive, negative, or neutral, and is equally valued as a tool for learning and continuous improvement. Unlike complaints, feedback is shared for information only, with no expectation of follow-up or resolution, and does not involve misconduct.

A formal complaint, or feedback, can be lodged via any of the following methods:

• Phoning Brave Head Office (on 0448 088 380) 
• In person by speaking, emailing, or phoning any employee 
• Writing either by email () or hardcopy letter addressed to: 
  • Brave Foundation 
    PO Box 990 
    Ringwood, Vic, 3134 

In all cases, the person making the complaint or feedback has the right to keep their identify confidential if they so choose (see: Section 4: Confidentiality) 

2. Acknowledgement of Feedback 

When feedback is received, it should always be acknowledged and discussed by the relevant parties to fully understand the nature of the information and to ascertain if the information is intended as feedback or constitutes a potential complaint. 

It will then be determined:

• How the feedback will be recorded (e.g., on the participant file, verbally to the recipient or another staff member, written and lodged with the senior leadership team)
• If the feedback requires an outcome to be implemented in response to the information received (e.g., reviewing a process or procedure within the organisation) 
• If the person lodging the feedback would like to be kept informed about how their information is being used; and
• What information the person lodging the feedback is giving permission to be shared.

3. Acknowledgement of a complaint 

All complaints received by Brave will undergo the following steps to seek resolution to the issues raised, and to keep the complainant informed of the process: 

• Complaints should be acknowledged by the recipient of the complaint, verbally within 24 hours of receipt.
• A written acknowledgement of receipt should be sent within 3 days of receipt of the complaint.
• All conversations with the complainant should be documented as part of a record of the investigatory process;
• Where a staff member is the first point of contact, they should seek to resolve the issue raised where possible, and within the scope of their role. Where an issue is unable to be resolved, a more formal complaints process will be followed (see section 7: escalation) 
• The recipient of the complaint should notify their manager, and if appropriate, the relevant member of the Senior Leadership team.
• If the complaint relates to a matter of serious misconduct, the Chief Executive Officer should be notified immediately (for more information on what constitutes misconduct, please refer to the Code of Conduct)

4. Confidentiality 

Brave will protect an individual’s identity when they raise an issue and indicate they do not wish for their identifying information to be disclosed. It should be understood that complaints of a serious nature may require the source of the information to be identified to verify the claims. Furthermore, a statement by the individual may be required to be collected as part of the evidence. In this case, Brave will communicate this to the individual and gain their consent before their identify is made known.

For more information on how Brave handles privacy and identifying information, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

5. Investigating a Complaint 

Depending on the nature of the complaint, an investigation of the issues raised may be required. Usually, this will take the form of an internal inquiry, however, in some cases, the CEO, Strategy and Governance Committee and/or Board may deem it necessary to engage an external investigator to investigate the complaint.

When Brave receives a complaint, an investigation will occur based on the information received. Brave will rely on the information provided by the complainant and may refer to other relevant information on record as appropriate.

To assist in the investigation and to address the complaint quickly and efficiently, Brave may ask the complainant for the following information:

3. Complainant’s name and contact details;
4. Name of the employee or the service being provided;
5. Nature of the complaint;
6. Details of any steps that the complainant has completed to resolve the issue;
7. Details of any conversations held with Brave relating to the issue; and
8. Copies of any documentation which supports the complaint.

The complainant should be advised that there may be occasions throughout the investigation where they will be contacted for further information and/or provided with an update on progress of inquiries. 

Team Leaders, and where appropriate, the relevant member of the SLT and CEO, should be kept updated with discussions and actions taken throughout an investigation.

6. Resolving a complaint 

Following the completion of an investigation, Brave will ensure that all parties involved are advised of the outcome and any actions taken regarding the complaint. The complainant will be advised verbally in the first instance, and then provided with a letter outlining the actions taken and the outcome of the investigation into the complaint.

Brave is committed to resolving all complaints within 28 days of a complaint being made, however, recognises that more serious complaints (e.g., those regarding misconduct) may take longer to investigate and resolve. 

Brave will ensure that the complainant is kept informed of progress and any delays and will endeavour to provide timelines on when the matter may be resolved.

7. Escalation of a Complaint 

There may be occasions when a matter is unable to be resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant. In these circumstances, a matter may be escalated.

8. When a complaint is unable to be resolved

Whilst Brave will make all reasonable attempts to resolve an issue and provide a satisfactory outcome, it is acknowledged that there are occasions where a complainant may not be satisfied with the resolution of their complaint. In this instance, the complainant can communicate their dissatisfaction to Brave, and allow the organisation to offer further solutions to the issue raised as per the escalation process.

Should a resolution still not be able to be reached by all parties, the complainant may be provided with information about external bodies that they can contact for further information, including but not limited to:

• Relevant Ombudsman in each State and Territory
• Privacy body in each State and Territory
• Civil Administrative Tribunal in each State and Territory
• Disability Services Commissioner

9. Keeping records
Brave will retain digital records detailing all interactions in relation to received feedback or complaints, including their resolution for a period of 7 years, in accordance with the Records Management Policy. 

In the case that a complainant or other person involved in the complaint process has requested to remain anonymous, any identifying information will be omitted from the records.