The Complaints Resolution and Referral Service

The Complaints Resolution and Referral Service is a free service for people with disability who are users of Australian Government funded: Disability Employment Services (DES); Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE); and/or Disability Advocacy services.

Vision Statement of the CRRS

Making a complaint to the CRRS

The CRRS is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) and Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDST), excluding Australian national public holidays.
To make a complaint:

• Call 1800 880 052 (toll free)
• Callers who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment can contact the National Relay Service (NRS) by calling 133 677 then asking for 1800 880 052
• Callers from a non-English speaking background can use the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) by calling 13 14 50
• Submit your complaint via the Online Complaints Form.

The CRRS is operated by our contracted service provider, GL Resolution who will collect, use and disclose your personal information on behalf of the Department of Social Services. For more information about the handling of your personal information please refer to the privacy collection notice below.

Privacy collection notice

The Complaints Resolution and Referral Service is is operated on behalf of the Department of Social Services (department) by our contracted service provider, GL Resolution (our contracted service provider), (collectively referred to as CRRS, we or us) and will consider complaints made by clients of services funded by the department under the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth). 

The CRRS will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, the Department’s Privacy Policy | Department of Social Services and our contracted service providers’ Privacy Policy and Disclosure - GL Resolution.

What we collect

‘Personal information’ is any information or opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information.

Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes information or opinion about a person’s:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• membership of a political association
• religious beliefs or affiliations
• philosophical beliefs
• membership of a professional or trade association
• membership of a trade union
• sexual orientation or practices
• criminal record
• health information including information about a disability
• genetic information that is not otherwise health information
• biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification

We collect your personal information including your name, contact details, your date of birth and demographic, details of services that you have received and facts about your complaints including services that you have accessed or service providers you have connections with. We may also collect your sensitive information such as your ethnicity, your health including information about your disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or affiliation, memberships of a trade union or a professional or trade association.

We may need to collect further information from you in order to investigate your complaint. If you do not provide this additional information, it may prevent us from progressing your complaint. In some cases, it may mean the CRRS determines it is not possible to investigate your complaint further.

How we may collect your information

Usually, we will collect information directly from you or where you consent from your authorised person when you or they contact us by either phone or through the CRRS website. At times, we may also collect information about you from others if they have information relevant to your complaint. 

Using and disclosing your personal information

The information you provide to the CRRS during the course of your matter will be used to assess your complaint and make enquiries or investigations into your complaint. 

We may use and disclose your personal information, and the personal information of any other person that you provide, to contact you, or any person whose details you provide to investigate your complaint. Where you have complained about a service provider, we may disclose your details and the details of your complaint to that service provider to obtain more information to assist us in our investigation.  
 
We may also disclose your information to other individuals or agencies who have information relevant to your complaint, if necessary.  
 
We may provide your information to the department for the use of monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of our service, investigating fraud or suspected misconduct, policy development and business planning for the CRRS.

You should also be aware that we may share your personal information if it is necessary to do this, to lessen or prevent a serious risk to the life, health of safety of any person, or to public health or safety. As mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect, we are required to report such abuse to the relevant law enforcement agency. 

Information collected through our website

We use the GovCMS platform provided by the Department of Finance to run our website.

This means that when you contact us through our website, the Department of Finance may collect and use website analytics information about your activity on our website. The Department does this too. Read the Department’s Privacy Policy to learn more.

When you contact us through our website, the Department of Finance and its subcontractors may only access your personal information in the GovCMS platform if they have to do this to maintain or fix the platform. Some subcontractor staff may access the GovCMS platform from other countries.

More information

You can find more information about how we handle personal information by reading the Department’s Privacy Policy. This includes information about how we store your information, how to contact us to access or correct information about you, and your rights to make a complaint about how we handle your personal information.

Who can complain to the CRRS?

Complaints can be made by clients of services funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) under the Disability Services Act (1986). These services include:

• Disability Employment Services (DES)
• Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs); and
• Advocacy Services (funded by DSS).

To get assistance from the CRRS to look into a complaint, a person needs to:

• be an eligible participant, their advocate and/or nominee, who has a complaint about a service of one or other of the types listed above which is funded under the Commonwealth Disability Services Act (1986)
• have a complaint that is no more than two years old
• have a complaint that has not been previously raised, investigated and closed with the CRRS

OR

• be a service that wants information to resolve or prevent a complaint
• be a service that wants information on how to improve policies and procedure.

What type of complaints can be made to the CRRS?

These can include issues such as:

• Not getting the right pay
• Unsafe or poor employment conditions
• Not being respected and valued at work
• Not receiving the training you need to find, keep, or do a new job
• Not getting a service or support that you should be provided with
• Not being allowed to make a complaint or ignoring your complaint
• Abuse and neglect
• Being unfairly exited from a service.

If you are not sure if your problem is about the Disability Service Standards, you can still contact the CRRS and you will be referred to another service that may be able to help you.

What will the CRRS do?

Providers of disability services are required to meet the National Standards for Disability Services. The CRRS will help you understand your rights under these standards and improve your experience with a DES, ADE or advocacy service.

The CRRS will:

• listen and document your complaint
• get your permission to talk to the service and any others that are involved
• remain impartial – the CRRS will not take sides and does not advocate on anyone’s behalf.

The CRRS has different ways of resolving complaints:

• CRRS-directed local resolution – The CRRS will assist you and your service to resolve the complaint together.
• Investigation – The CRRS will contact your service about your complaint and find out what happened. The CRRS may make recommendations to address your complaint.
• Self-directed local resolution – Assist the complainant by providing suggestions and confidence to contact the service directly to resolve the complaint.
• Advocacy-directed local resolution - where the CRRS gives an advocate or support person information, or finds a support person for the complainant, so that they have the support they need to raise the complaint directly with the service.

Individuals who use the service will:

• Receive impartial and confidential advice
• Be treated with respect and understanding
• Be listened to objectively.

Services who participate in the Complaints Resolution and Referral process will:

• Benefit from the skilful investigation
• Value the objective and outcome focused approach
• Gain skills in handling complaints
• Succeed in achieving better resolution of issues.

Please note, the CRRS does not record phone calls, however they do take notes to ensure accuracy.

Fact Sheets

• Complaints Resolution and Referral Service (CRRS) - Fact Sheet
• Poster - Contact Complaints Resolution and Referral Service (CRRS)

Last updated: 7 January 2025 - 9:05pm