Acknowledge and resolve a complaint about a grant delay

You are a Client Services Officer at the Melbourne front counter.

Simulated workplaceEntry missionCAQA Department of Community Programs

This mission touches on a mature theme. It is fictional. If it brings up something hard for you, you can stop at any time and talk to someone you trust.

What is going on

A member of the public from Ballarat has complained that the Neighbourhood Facilities Fund decision on the Shepparton Riverside Scouts Hall roof is overdue and that nobody has returned their calls. The complaint is registered as CP-26-0119 in the correspondence tracker and must be acknowledged within three business days. The grants register shows the application NFF-26-0031 is under assessment with a moderation panel scheduled because the assessors' scores differ. The complainant is a hall committee volunteer, is frustrated, and earlier in the week a different declined applicant behaved aggressively at the Ballarat counter. Jasmine Whitlock wants the complaint handled under the procedure with every step recorded.

Jasmine Whitlock, Manager, Community Engagement and Client Services
Subject: Complaint CP-26-0119 about a facilities fund delay

A member of the public in Ballarat has complained that the Neighbourhood Facilities Fund decision for the Scouts hall roof is overdue and that nobody has returned their calls. The complaint is registered as CP-26-0119 and needs acknowledgement by Wednesday. Please handle it under the complaints handling procedure: acknowledge in writing, check the grant record NFF-26-0031 in the grants register for the actual status, talk to the program team, and draft a response that explains what has happened and when they will hear. Record every step in the tracker.

Your brief

Acknowledge the complaint in writing, establish the facts from the grants register and the program team, draft a plain language response that explains the status and the next steps, offer the external review avenue, and record every step in the correspondence tracker while protecting the complainant's information.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Complaints Handling Procedure and open CP-26-0119 in the Ministerial and Correspondence Tracker to confirm the details, the due dates and the outcome the complainant wants.
Write an acknowledgement letter within the three business day timeframe that gives the reference number, your name and when the complainant will hear from you.
Check NFF-26-0031 in the Grants Register and talk to the Grants and Programs team to establish the actual status, the reason for the delay and the date of the moderation panel.
Draft a plain language response that explains what happened, apologises for the unreturned calls, sets out the next steps and tells the complainant how to seek review by the Victorian Ombudsman.
Record the acknowledgement, the enquiries made and the response in the tracker, moving the status through the procedure.
Explain in a short note how you protected the complainant's personal information under the Privacy and Information Handling Policy, including the address check before sending.
Describe how you would respond if the complainant became abusive on the phone, using the unreasonable conduct guidance in the procedure.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Acknowledgement letter
Draft response to the complainant
Tracker entry CP-26-0119 with all steps recorded
Note on privacy and unreasonable conduct handling

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.