Managing complaints and feedback 104-02000000

Outbound phone contact

Before phoning a customer, Centrelink only staff send a pre-call notification (SMS only) alert. This is if the customer is subscribed to SMS Electronic Messaging. A pre-call SMS tells the customer to expect a call from Services Australia.

Make 2 attempts to contact the customer by telephone. If contact is unsuccessful, follow up with an email or letter inviting the customer to contact the agency. This does not apply to customers with Managed Service Plans (MSP).

Contact attempts must include a morning and an afternoon/evening call on the same day or next business day.

When contacting customers, for complaint management, staff must:

• complete Proof of Record Ownership (PoRo) according to agency requirements
• introduce themselves and the reason for the call
• try to contact the customer according to their contact preferences (if possible). Consider any Restricted Servicing Arrangements
• escalate complaints to Level 2 when the complaint meets a complaint escalation reason

Inbound phone contact

Calls to the Services Australia Complaints and Feedback line must be consistent across service brands. See contact requirements in Level 1 - Manage complaints and feedback.

Written correspondence

Use approved complaint email and letter templates if:

• phone contact is unsuccessful
• contact is not possible or
• a written response is requested

If the customer is aggressive or displaying unreasonable behaviour:

• Follow Customer aggression - Response
• Seek help from a manager

Address the behaviour per the customer aggression response guidelines, then:

• continue managing the complaint issue
• give the customer a resolution

Written customer feedback containing obscene or offensive content

Disengaging with a customer because of the use of obscene or offensive written feedback may trigger more customer escalation. Therefore, if written feedback contains obscene or offensive content, still address the feedback issue/s.

Contact the customer to discuss the issues raised. Tell the customer of the agency's behavioural expectations, this includes written feedback.

For help with de-escalation see Telephone standards and Customer aggression - response.

While managing a complaint, Centrelink and Child Support staff may recognise customers who may benefit from Personalised Services.

Manage the complaint issue and give the customer an outcome. This may be with help from or by Personalised Services.

See Referring customers to and handling customer enquiries and correspondence for Personalised Services.

Where staff recognise customer vulnerabilities, they must offer support. This can be:

• welfare assistances
• social work referral
• financial information referrals

Manage the complaint and give the customer an outcome. Take appropriate action to ensure the customer's well-being.

Managers get feedback about a staff member by:

• warm transfer or
• through a Complaint Action required or Complaint FYI email sent from the Customer Feedback Tool (CFT)

The email provides a link to the completed service request in the CFT. Select the link to view the feedback and action taken by the staff member managing the feedback.

To request access to the specialised agent Inbox for the CFT, see Requesting access to the Customer feedback tool.

If the complaint or compliment is about a phone conversation, consider requesting and listening to the call recording.

For more details:

• contact the customer
• contact the Manager of the staff member, or the staff member who recorded the staff complaint

If the feedback has been assigned to the incorrect Service Officer, see Table 3.

Review the feedback to determine what actions are required. This may include:

• discussing feedback or compliments with individual staff
• identifying training and development needs to support individuals or teams, or
• evaluating local procedures and work practices to drive continuous improvement

To action the feedback, consider:

• if the compliment or feedback is about an individual or a team process
• if the feedback requires any more action and if so the urgency of this action
• the best method to communicate the feedback
• if the feedback identified a training or development need and if so, how best to give this
• if the feedback indicates local work practices are being used instead of the appropriate Operational Blueprint procedures

Where appropriate, managers reviewing staff feedback may also access and listen to a call recording.

If the feedback is:

• correct and appropriate, see Item 3
• incorrect or inappropriate, see Item 4

Take the appropriate action to give the feedback to the individual, team or work area.

When discussing the customer's feedback with the staff member who is the subject of the complaint, allow the staff member to discuss what they observed during the call or visit, and to recognise any opportunities for self-improvement.

Consider:

• how to communicate the feedback, for example, as part of the staff member's regular coaching discussion
• if there is an identified training or development need. If so, how best to give this
• listening to the call recording together (if available), to find out perceptions and future learnings

After addressing the feedback with the staff member, document the CFT entry with Manager comments:

• go to the Notes tab in the complaint entry
• select Edit and change the Text Type to Action Taken/Response Provided
• record in the Notes the date the feedback was reviewed including the manager identifier and if the staff member has received feedback. Do not include specific details. For example, ‘ABC123 reviewed the customer’s feedback and provided feedback to the staff member on xx/xx/xxxx'
• Check the Has TL provided feedback to staff? checkbox. This checkbox is located in the Status section of the Details tab in the CFT. Note: Team Leaders need Administrator access (available via ESS) to perform this function. See Requesting access to the Customer Feedback Tool.

Document the CFT entry with Manager comments:

• go to the Notes tab in the complaint entry
• select Edit and change the Text Type to Action Taken/Response Provided
• record in the Notes the date the feedback was reviewed including the manager identifier and feedback not required. Do not include specific details. For example, ‘ABC123 reviewed the customer’s feedback on xx/xx/xxxx and determined feedback to the staff member is not required’

Note: when a staff member’s details are recorded in the Business Reference tab the feedback will link to SmartCoach. If the feedback is inappropriate, a request can be made to have the Business Reference field updated to de-identify the staff member.

• Send a Complaint Action required email via the External Channel Email in the CFT to Level 2 Complaints requesting the staff member's details to be removed from the Business reference tab. Request action by the relevant program and ask for the entry to be removed from reporting:
• Email subject line: De-identify Staff Member - CFT ID <80xxxxxxxxx>
• Email body of text: This feedback has been reviewed and determined <incorrect/inappropriate>. Please remove the staff member’s name from the Business Reference details tab. Notes have been added to the CFT entry

• Open the feedback item from the link in the notification email or by searching via ID
• Select Edit

The Staff Member field must be updated to record the staff member the feedback is about. If the Staff Member:

• is known, see Item 3
• is unknown, but their location is known, see Item 4
• and their location is unknown, see Item 5

If the Staff Member is known:

• Navigate to the Business Reference tab within the CFT
• Select Search on the Staff line
• Input the correct staff member’s logon in the User field
• Select Search (all fields populate the information relating to the specific staff member)
• Select Save
• Navigate to the External Channel Email and forward the feedback. For assistance with sending the email, see the Manage table > Staff Member (Individual) index item in the Complaints and feedback index
• Select Edit
• Navigate to the Notes tab
• Select Escalation and Management Text Type. Document the CFT stating ‘The Business Reference field has been updated and the feedback reassigned to <LOGON>. The feedback has been forwarded to the Service Officer’s <Manager> <positional mailbox> for action.’ Note: if a Service Delivery Partner (SDP) staff member, forward the feedback to the SDP positional mailbox only

Procedure ends here.

If the Staff Member is unknown, but their location is known:

• Navigate to the Business Reference tab within the CFT
• Update the Subject of the Complaint to either Service Centre or Smart Centre
• Select Search on the Office/Team line
• Input the name of the Service Centre, use the wildcard search if required
• Select Save
• Navigate to the External Channel Email and forward the feedback. For assistance with sending the email, see the Manage table > Staff Member (Individual) index item in the Complaints and feedback index
• Select Edit
• Navigate to the Notes tab
• Select Escalation and Management Text Type. Document the CFT stating ‘The Business Reference field has been updated. The staff member this feedback relates too is unable to be identified, however their location is known. The feedback has been forwarded to the <positional mailbox> for action.’

Procedure ends here.

If the Staff Member and their location is unknown

• Navigate to the Business Reference tab within the CFT
• Update the Subject of the Complaint to Services Australia
• Select Save
• Select Edit
• Navigate to the Notes tab
• Select Escalation and Management Text Type. Document the CFT stating ‘The Business Reference field has been updated. The staff member and their location this feedback relates to is not identified. The feedback has been finalised without further action.’

Procedure ends here

• From the left side menu, select Search Service Request
• In Service Request ID, enter the Customer Feedback ID
• In User Status ID, use the drop down to open the list of menu options
• Select the status of the feedback:
• For example, if the customer advises they have just lodged the feedback online, select Feedback received (Feedback):
• 2 statuses with the same name may appear. Select the first line
• Select Search
• The Feedback ID will display in the Service ID column:
• If the Feedback ID does not display, it may be because the incorrect feedback status has been selected
• Select another status and search again
• Select the Feedback ID to open the Feedback

• From the left-hand menu, select Agent Inbox
• In the Feedback ID field, enter the Feedback ID
• Select Search
• The Feedback ID will display under the Feedback ID column.
• Select it to open the Feedback

Complete a search in the Consumer Directory Maintenance System (CDMS), see Register a customer for Medicare in the Consumer Directory Maintenance System (CDMS).

Can a Consumer ID be located and is there sufficient information to confirm the customer lodged the feedback?

• Yes, it can be added to the CFT entry. See Item 2
• No, the feedback will not be linked to the customer's record

To link the Consumer ID to the CFT Entry

• go to the Parties Involved tab
• select Edit
• select the box on the right-hand side of the Feedback Customer line. This opens Search Criteria
• enter the Consumer ID into the ID number field and select Search
• select the ID that appears in the Results List
• select Save

If any issues are experienced when attempting to link a Consumer ID to a CFT entry, email the Level 2 Complaint mailbox with the following:

• Consumer ID
• Feedback ID, and
• Details of the error or issue

Wait for a response before proceeding.