Complaints
One of the core functions of the OCC is to receive and respond to complaints about service delivery to vulnerable children in the Northern Territory.
What kind of complaints can the OCC deal with?
The OCC can receive complaints if two conditions are met:
- The complaint relates to a vulnerable child; and
- The complaint relates to a service provider having failed to provide services to a vulnerable child, or the services provided did not meet the standard reasonably expected.1
A service provider can include government agencies or non-government organisations who are providing public services. It does not include courts or the Police
If a complaint does not meet these two conditions, the OCC cannot deal with it. The OCC manages these matters as ‘approaches’.
Who can make a complaint?
Someone can make a complaint if they are, or have been, a vulnerable child, or they are acting on behalf of a vulnerable child. For example; a parent, a carer, a doctor or a teacher.
A vulnerable child under the Children’s Commissioner Act 2013 (The Act) is defined widely.1
1 Children’s Commissioner Act 2013 (NT) pt 2 s 7. Section 7 of the Children’s Commissioner Act 2013 (NT) defines vulnerable children as including:
- A child in contact with the care and protection system;
- A child who has been arrested or is on bail, or in relation to whom an order made under the Youth Justice Act is in force;
- A child in relation to whom an order made under the Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention Act is in force;
- A child who is suffering from a mental illness;
- A child who has a disability;
- A child who has sought or whose family have sought child-related services in regard to the child’s protection or care.
How can the OCC deal with complaints?
Parts four and five of the Act set out how the OCC can deal with complaints. The process is illustrated in the following flowchart. Click the relevant box for more information on any of the processes or decision outcomes.
How long will this take?
The Children’s Commissioner must make the decision on how best to deal with a complaint within:
- 28 days after receiving the complaint; or
- If the Children’s Commissioner needs other information for the decision, then it must be made 28 days after obtaining the information required.
What happens next?
The Children’s Commissioner will inform the person who made the complaint of how they intend to deal with the complaint.
When the Commissioner believes that a matter has been finalised they will provide the person who made the complaint information about the outcome of complaint.