Content

Publications/resources

It's OK to complain

Information sheets 1 to 8

Newsletters

Newsletters – Plain English

Complaints Culture Surveys for people with a disability, families and staff

Complaints Systems & Practice Self-Audit – Quick Checklist

Good Practice Guide and Self Audit Tool

Disability Services Commissioner - Annual Report

Our Year in Review

Disability Services Commissioner - Strategic Plan 2008-2012

Accessible formats

Requests for hard copies

 

It's OK to complain

A brochure outlining the role of the Commissioner, who can complain and what a complaint to the Commissioner can be about.

Information sheets

Making a complaint to the Disability Services Commissioner (Information Sheet - 1)
An information sheet about making a complaint to the Disability Services Commissioner.

Dealing with your complaint (Information Sheet - 2 )
An information sheet that outlines what happens when the Disability Services Commissioner is dealing with a complaint.

Information for Disability Service providers: General (Information Sheet - 3)
An information sheet with general information to assist Disability Service Providers to understand more about the Disability Services Commissioner.

Information for Disability Services Providers: Complaints to the Commissioner (Information Sheet - 4)
An information sheet for Disability Service Providers that covers more detailed information about when a complaint has been made to the Disability Services Commissioner about their service.

Assessment Conferences (Information Sheet - 5)
An information sheet that describes how an assessment conference works and assists people to consider how they can prepare for an assessment conference.

Conciliation (Information Sheet - 6)
An information sheet that outlines how complaints are conciliated by the Disability Services Commissioner

Information for Advocates and Support People at Assessment Conferences and Conciliation Conferences (Information Sheet - 7)
An information sheet that assists advocates and support people to prepare to attend a conference at the Disability Services Commissioner

Investigations by the Disability Services Commissioner (Information Sheet - 8)
An information sheet that outlines how complaints are investigated by the Disability Services Commissioner

 

Newsletter

Quarterly newsletter providing regular updates on the work of the Disability Services Commissioner.

'If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter (including the Newsletter – Plain English), send an email to - feedback@odsc.vic.gov.au - with the subject 'Subscribe to Newsletter'

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Newsletter - Plain English

A brief 2 page newsletter in Plain English providing regular updates on the work of the Disability Services Commissioner.

'If you would like to subscribe to the Newsletter – Plain English (including the Newsletter), send an email to - feedback@odsc.vic.gov.au - with the subject 'Subscribe to Newsletter'

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Complaints Culture Surveys for people with a disability, families / advocates and staff

A positive complaints culture is one in which people feel comfortable to provide feedback, positive or negative, about the disability supports they receive. This not only empowers the people you support but can also assist in improving the overall quality of the services you provide.

The aim of the Complaints Culture Surveys is to identify, based on feedback from the people you support, their families, advocates and staff at all levels of the organisation, the degree to which the message ‘It’s OK to Complain!’ applies to your organisation. The surveys will identify areas where you are doing well and areas where you could further improve. 
Surveys have been developed for completion by each of the following groups:

  • people with a disability supported by your organisation
  • families and advocates of the people you support
  • staff and volunteers at all levels, and from all areas, of your organisation

The eight questions asked of people with a disability and families / advocates match the first eight questions asked of staff to enable a direct comparison of the responses from each of these stakeholder groups.
The staff survey contains a further 10 questions that pertain to their perception of the degree to which your organisation’s Human Resources and Quality Management Systems support a positive complaints culture.
The ‘Complaints Culture Surveys: Instructions for use’ provides an overview of the intent of the surveys, recommendations for implementation and suggestions regarding the use and review of information arising from the completed surveys.

Complaints Systems & Practice Self-Audit – Quick Checklist

Encouraging people who access your services to give feedback, and when necessary complain, about the supports you provide, not only empowers those individuals but also provides an opportunity to improve the overall quality of the services you provide.

This ‘Complaints Systems & Practice Self-Audit – Quick checklist’ is designed to give you a snapshot of the progress your organisation has made in relation to the development of a positive complaints culture. The checklist will also assist you to identify and prioritise areas of your complaints management system that you may want or need to develop further. The checklist covers key components of Quality Framework Industry Standard 7 and the Disability Act  2006 (in relation to complaints) to enable you to determine your progress in relation to your legislative and regulatory compliance obligations and assist in your preparations for the independent monitoring process that service providers are required to undertake.

 

Good Practice Guide and Self Audit Tool

Developing an effective person centred complaints management culture and system.

This guide and self audit tool has been developed to assist disability service providers to develop and review their complaints management system to ensure that it is:

  • responsive and accessible to people with a disability
  • forms part of a broader quality culture that sees complaints as an opportunity for service improvement

Through the use of the self audit, together with other processes your disability service can assess the extent to which your current systems and culture promote an environment where service users feel that It's is OK to complain!. This can assist you to identify any improvements that need to be made.

Complete document download

  • Download 'Good Practice Guide and Self Audit Tool' (PDF 3.340Mb)

 

Download individual Chapters

 

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Disability Services Commissioner - Annual Report

The 2010-11 Annual Report provides an in depth analysis of the work of the DSC including a summary of our key activities and achievements for the year, an overview of our capacity development activities, learning gained from issues and trends in complaints and a breakdown of complaints data from both DSC and service providers Annual Complaints Reporting (ACR) process.

Our Year in Review

The ‘Our Year in Review’ booklet provides a user friendly overview of highlights and key information contained in the Annual Report.

 

Disability Services Commissioner - Strategic Plan 2008-2012

This Plan has been developed to clarify DSC's work priorities and approaches from now until 2012, to maximise the impact we have on improving services and service outcomes for people with a disability and ensure that we are on track to met our legislative requirements.

  • Download 'Disability Services Commissioner - Strategic Plan 2008-2012' (PDF 1042 Kb)
  • Download 'Disability Services Commissioner - Strategic Plan 2008-2012' (RTF 107 Kb)

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Accessible formats

If you would like information in accessible formats, please contact us.

 

Requests for hard copies

Hard copies of publications and resources can be obtained by contacting our Office

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8 May, 2012