Complain, complain, complain: how complaints can (and should) change regulatory practice

In one way or another, receiving and dealing with complaints is part of the organisational life of many regulators.

Complaints systems are asked to serve many functions: as a source of intelligence to guide risk-based compliance and enforcement responses; as a means to empower citizens to act as the eyes and ears of regulators to identify harms or risks; as a mechanism for integrity bodies to hold governments to account for their conduct and service delivery quality; and as a red flag for regulators to identify where staff may be incompetent, captured or corrupt.

All of which suggest complaints are a highly valuable weapon in regulators’ armoury, whether or not the regulator’s core business is receiving, resolving or acting on complaints. But are we taking them seriously enough? Are we systematically distilling, reviewing and utilising the intelligence they provide about our and/or our duty holders’ performance?

Please join our expert facilitator and panel as they canvass ideas about how regulators can more strategically utilise complaints in the service of better regulatory practice.

• Facilitator: Adam Beaumont (presentation slides)
• Speaker 1: Nicole Lawless
• Speaker 2: Andrew Gavrielatos

For further reading:

1. Complain, complain, complain: responses to unanswered questions on sli.do
2. SOCAP Australia (The Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals)