“I have a Complaint!”

Federal Court of Australia

AIJA Annual Court Administrators’ Conference

Adelaide, Friday 6 August 1999

Structure of Presentation

• The Environment for Change

• Present position in the Federal Court of Australia

• Defining complaints, what should be recorded and responded to

• Warts and all!

The Environment for Change

• Greater consumer expectations

• Business imperatives (that is, staying in business)

• The Federal Government’s service charter requirements (applicable to all Federal bodies)

• Need to be client focussed to maintain public trust and cconfidence in Courts

Present Position in the Federal Court of Australia

• Long standing culture of courteousness, and politeness as well as national user consultation has avoided complaints

• Improvements can be made

• Very few complaints - Many spurious, but not recorded in any cohesive way

Present postion cont.

• No official complaints recording system

• Proposed complaint handling system developed and under consideration

• Proposed system linked to Service Charter

• Requirement for information about complaints to be included in future Annual Reports

Present postion cont.

• Uncertainty about inclusion of and collection of complaints about the judiciary

• Although local responses are proposed, it is also proposed that there be a collection of complaints and suggestions, to enable pro-active changes as problems identified

• Security issues

Present postion cont.• Complaints are made (very rarely) about the way

a judge has dealt with a case. These are dealt with by the Chief Justice. The judge concerned provides a response to the Chief Justice, and either the Chief Justice or the Registrar responds to the person complaining.

• Complaints about the result are dealt with by the usual appeal process.

• Reserve Judgments protocol

Defining Complaints - What should be recorded and

responded to?

• Present proposal is that Registries record and therefore, respond to:

Any complaints that are received either over the counter, by telephone, or in writing (including by e-mail) which raise a concern about the service standards included in the ‘charter’ eg.

• Courtesy• promptness • physical access

Complaints about the Court’s processes which involve the Registry (not the judgment) including complaints about:

• the manner of setting hearing dates (eg delays or inconvenient timing)

• the overall time a case is taking

• complaints about decisions on the non-acceptance of documents for filing

• complaints about a particular procedure eg the system for determining costs

any suggestions or compliments about the Court’s services in the

categories just mentioned

Warts and All

• Existing culture produces an inherent avoidence of problems - problems (complaints) are seen as negative and not positive

• Difficulty in generating a need for change about complaints

• Difficulty in producing an environment that encourages a willingness to invite and deal with criticism

Warts and All cont.

• Presumption that complaints mean that the organisation is not performing well (when it is, by quantitative performance criteria)

• Complaints are not seen as suggestions or supportive calls for improvement

Warts and All cont.

• A special system for Complaints about the Judiciary?

• NSW has a system

• According to those that operate it, it works well

• there are other opinions

Warts and All cont.

• There is a difficulty in separating complaints about usual practice and procedure and the individual practice of a judicial officer

• Seperating the Judiciary and Registries - is it possible?

Warts and All cont.

• Complaints about judicial decisions appropriately excluded, but the exclusion is often not understood or accepted. Perhaps there is room for better explanations of the reasons for decision.