What you can expect when you contact us

Whether you have a complaint, compliment or suggestion, you can expect to:

• be dealt with courteously
• be told what will happen with your complaint, compliment or suggestion
• be told what your options are if you are unhappy with a decision or the service you have received
• not be disadvantaged because you have complained or provided feedback.

How to make a complaint, give a compliment or provide feedback

You can:

• Contact the relevant area (contact details for Department for Communities’ services are listed over the page)
• You can submit your complaint on-line
• Or fill in the feedback form and mail it to:

Department for Communities

Manager, Strategic & Executive Services

Gordon Stephenson House

140 William Street

PERTH  WA  6000

What we can’t help with

The Department for Communities cannot help if you have a complaint about:

• Government policies and/or legislation outside the control of, and not the responsibility of the Department for Communities – although the department will pass on your feedback to the appropriate policy makers and/or agency
• Anything currently before a court or tribunal
• Any grievance under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 or other Public Sector Human Resource Management Standards
• Any review processes available under the Freedom of Information Act 1992
• Any matter associated with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003
• the quantum amount of Redress WA ex gratia payments

Complaints – step by step

1.     If you have a question, a problem or are unsure about any aspect of the department’s services, please contact the area concerned to discuss your issue.  Many problems can be resolved this way.  This is known as an informal complaint.   

2.      If the response you have received is not satisfactory, you can make a complaint by filling in the attached feedback form and forwarding it to the relevant service area; or contact the Manager or Director of that area.

3.     You will:

• Have your complaint acknowledged within 5 working days
• Be contacted within 7 working days to discuss and try to resolve your issue
• Receive a letter outlining your options within 10 – 60 days depending on how complicated your issue is.

4.     If you don’t agree with the outcome, you may choose to take your complaint further and request an internal review.  You can do this by writing to the Department for Communities’ Complaints Coordinator.

5.     You will receive written advice of the outcome within 10 to 60 days, depending on how complicated your issue is.

6.     If you are still not satisfied your next step is to go to one of the external review agencies listed below.

External review agencies