Provider complaints process

All disability support service providers must have a complaints process in place. This page presents suggestions to support disability support providers to ensure their complaint management processes are fit for purpose and meet the needs of disabled people.

Download the A Guide to DSS Providers' Complaints or read a summary of the document below. 

• Download A Guide to DSS Providers' Complaints (DOCX 147KB)
• Download A Guide to DSS Providers' Complaints (PDF 155KB)
• Download the proposed self-review table (DOCX 141KB). 

What is a complaint?

This document defines a complaint as:

A complaint is when a person tells the provider that they are unhappy or have concerns about their disability support so that things can improve.

Any expression of dissatisfaction, request for something different, or notification of a support mismatch, whether it is formal or informal, implied or explicit, and where a response is sought, is fair and reasonable to expect, or is legally required.

Service providers’ complaint systems should assist them to identify issues, resolve them, and report on them. There should be a focus on capturing valuable information about the quality of the services they offer disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and their family and whānau. The development of a strong complaints system needs to be underpinned by a continuous improvement culture and structure.

The system must be accessible and easy to use. People must be able to share their comments without fear of any real or implied retaliatory threats or behaviour.

How these suggestions were developed

The Ministry asked John Taylor ONZM and Garth Bennie to independently monitor and shape the progress being made by the Ministry to implement the recommendations in the Schmidt-McCleave report. They worked with disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and providers to assist the Ministry in refining an effective complaints process, and they produced this document for providers.

This webpage summarises the full document, which is available here (DOCX 147KB).

The complaints self-review table (DOCX 31KB) linked to these suggestions may support providers to improve their complaints processes.

Developing an effective complaints process

The New Zealand Ombudsman has identified 3 steps that make up an effective complaints process:

Step 1: Enabling complaints

The complaints process is client focused, visible, accessible, and valued and supported by management.

Step 2: Responding to complaints

Complaints are responded to promptly and handled objectively, fairly and in confidence. Remedies are provided where appropriate.

Step 3: Accountability and learning

There are clear accountabilities for complaint handling and complaints are used to stimulate agency improvements.

(NZ Ombudsman: 2012)

The Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner notes that:

The right to complain is a fundamental aspect of the [HDC] Code. Done well, complaints resolution plays a central role in the safety of consumers, maintenance of trust in the health and disability system, and the restoration of relationships and mana, and ensures consumer input into quality improvement. A complaints management process must first and foremost be people-centred. It must focus on the resolution needs of the complainant and place the needs of people above the needs of the system. Creating a culture that welcomes complaints and where complainants are treated with respect and provided with a constructive outcome is an important aspect of quality service provision.”

(Report on complaints to HDC about Residential Disability Support Services: July 2024)

Disability support provider complaint management should be aligned with:

• The Health and Disability Commissioner Code of Rights external URL  
• The Ministry’s Quality and Safeguarding Framework and the Ministry’s Complaints Operational Guidance (DOCX 217KB).Key principles for a complaint system

A principles-based approach has been developed to inform a useful, fair, and effective complaints process. These principles are informed by the HDC Code of Health and Disability Services Consumer Rights, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Enabling Good Lives Principles and Vision.

A principles-based approach has been developed to inform a useful, fair, and effective complaints process. These principles are informed by the HDC Code of Health and Disability Services Consumer Rights, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Enabling Good Lives Principles and Vision.

The following principles should be reflected in all service provider’s complaints policy and procedures:

1. The starting point should always be that:
   • any comment about an experience is welcome
   • dissatisfaction is reasonable for that person and needs to be listened to
   • a modification of support is a reasonable expectation to resolve the issue.
2. People have a right to having support designed to suit their specific needs and aspirations, and to enable them to participate as fully in society as they choose to.
3. People in receipt of support have a right to comment on how well that support works for them. For providers, this voice should form the basis of their quality planning and their internal mechanisms need to be able to demonstrate this level of commitment to self-determination to be fit for purpose.
4. Complaint systems should be:
   • Proactive. Providers actively seek comment from people as to how well their support is working for them, and they are accountable for this. 
   • Accessible and visible. All service users, their family and whānau and the public should be able to understand and access a complaints process. This means it should be:
     • Available in different languages and Easy Read
     • Publicly available on websites and places where people are supported and material is easy to locate
     • Provided to people at regular intervals, not just once.
5. Support should be available for people to make a complaint. The person making the comment / complaint must be adequately supported and informed to present their view and comment on the service provider’s response.
6. The complaint system should be co-designed with the people who will use it (the people supported and their family and whānau). This design process values:
   1. engagement which is built on trust, authenticity, reciprocity, transparency, and a willingness to share and learn from each other.
   2. shared leadership. Knowledge and expertise drawn from lived experience is valued equally alongside clinical and other knowledge. Consumers, whānau and communities are recognised as experts by experience.
7. The complaint system must treat all parties fairly according to the principles of Natural Justice:
   1. freedom from bias by the person making the decision / judgement.
   2. transparency and fairness of the process.
   3. all parties are given the opportunity to respond.
8. Complainants must be protected from any real or implied retaliatory threats or behaviour. They must not have their support curtailed or compromised, nor adversely affected in any other way. The complaint system must ensure this is publicly known and demonstrated through policy statements. This includes ensuring ways for people to safely escalate their concern if they experience retaliation.
9. When a person provides any form of critique of their support, be it feedback, a request for change, a notification of a support mismatch or a complaint, they should be treated with:
   1. Respect: acknowledging both their right to complain / provide feedback and that they are the experts of their life. All communications relating to the complaint / feedback will be polite, respectful and mana-enhancing.
   2. Fairness: that the complaint / feedback will be treated objectively, and the person will not be blamed for what they want.
   3. Honesty: the service provider will always act with integrity and will openly apologise for any shortcomings or mistakes that led to the complaint.
   4. Responsiveness: the resolution process should be clear and handled in a timely manner, and the person kept informed of progress.
   5. Cultural congruence: the person will be able to interact with the complaints / feedback system in a way that is consistent with their cultural norms and expectations.
   6. Confidentiality: the person should be able to be as private about the details of their complaint as they wish to be. This includes not being identified should they choose not to be (with notified exceptions based on immediate safety considerations and/or illegal proceedings).
10. Organisations should have a system to store complaints securely and be able to aggregate themes as well as communicate lessons learned.
11. When a complaint is upheld, an apology and/or other form of redress or restorative practice must be built into the system that:
    1. Comes from the appropriate level within the organisation.
    2. Is done in a culturally appropriate manner consistent with tikanga or other cultural practices.
    3. Acknowledges the complainant’s right to complain, their maia/ courage in coming forward, and thanks them for their complaint.
    4. Assures the person that their issue will be rectified and the timeframe for this with any other associated variables.
    5. Guarantees that the person and anyone associated with them will be protected from any harm or disadvantage because of making the complaint.