Defence Magazine

Wing Commander Mary Anne Whiting, Lieutenant Commander Glenn Kerr, Major Narelle Powers and Squadron Leader Simon Nickson from the new Fairness and Resolution Branch.
Photo by Gai Brodtmann

The new branch, which came into being on 30 January, integrates Defence's three military and civilian complaints advice and management areas—the Complaint Resolution Agency, the Defence Equity Organisation and the Directorate of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management—into one central agency.

According to Acting Director-General, Di Harris, the Fairness and Resolution Branch will improve the rigour, impartiality and timeliness of military and civilian complaints advice, management and resolution, without compromising the confidentiality of some of the processes such as mediation and the reporting of unacceptable behaviour.

Combining three agencies into one means the new branch will draw on a strong mix of skills and expertise in the military and civilian arenas.

One-stop shop

"By consolidating and centralising the advisory, management and resolution functions, the new branch will provide a focal point, a kind of one-stop shop, for military and civilian complaints and we will be responsible for finding the best way to deal with complaints," Ms Harris said.

"That said, we will still adhere to the Defence policy that complaints should be addressed at the lowest level possible, through the normal command or management channels and administrative arrangements. This potentially provides the quickest and most appropriate outcome, so that people can get on with their work and their lives.

"There is no question that good complaint management does not start in my branch. Commanders, managers and supervisors have to be able to deal quickly and effectively with conflict, disputes and complaints in the workplace.

"But if anyone needs advice on either managing or lodging a complaint—be they from Navy, Army, Air Force or the public service—we want them to be able to come to us and get the advice they need.

"Under the old multiple agency structure, the same complaint was sometimes handled by different areas at the same time, or it would be handled by an area that was not best equipped to respond to it. This often resulted in delays, duplication of effort and frustration all round.

"With the new branch, we will make it our business to make sure a complaint is handled in one place, by one team, in a rigorous, impartial and timely way. If there is an appropriate way to deal with the complaint informally, particularly if Alternative Dispute Resolution processes, such as mediation, are likely to offer a good outcome, we can pursue those options," she said.

Independent agency

The branch will operate independently of the chain of command and line management, and will report directly to the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary. However it will reside within the Defence Personnel Executive for matters of administration and policy development responsibilities.

Fair go

Due to the breadth of functions to be performed by the new branch, Ms Harris said time was taken to make sure its name reflected the way forward for Defence complaint advice, assistance, management and resolution.

Julie Piggott, Dean Gilbert, Di Harris, Kevin Radnidge and Jan Colegrave ensuring everyone in Defence has a "fair go".
Photo by Gai Brodtmann

"We considered a whole range of names for the new branch, because we wanted to make sure it would reflect the Defence commitment to everyone having a fair go," she said.

"So, we chose fairness, because we manage equity, diversity, privacy and the complaint management system.

"We also chose resolution because that is always our aim in our approach to managing and providing advice and assistance on a broad range of military and civilian complaint types, such as unacceptable behaviour, redress of grievance, review of actions, privacy breaches, human rights and equal opportunity issues, and matters relating to the Defence/Defence Force Ombudsman.

"I think we all recognise that, inevitably, not every complaint can be resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant. But we can assure people that the process is designed and managed in a way that provides a fair hearing to everyone—complainants and respondents alike."

Timeliness

Without question, the single most common complaint about the way redress applications have been handled in the past is the length of time it can take for matters to be finalised. In the past three years the Complaint Resolution Agency cleared a significant number of redresses that had been 'in the system' for a number of years.

By the time the new branch was established there were no longer any active redress cases that had been with the Complaint Resolution Agency for more than 12 months. The new branch is aiming to continue this improvement by clearing all redresses older than six months by the middle of this year.

"Ideally, redresses should take no longer than nine months, from the time they are submitted in the unit, to the time they have been finalised, which includes review by the Service Chief," said Ms Harris.

"And we will also be looking at how long the 'informal' complaints processes are taking—for example, complaints of unacceptable behaviour such as harassment or bullying."

Reviews of Defence complaint handling

The formation of the new branch is another step in Defence's response to the Defence/Defence Force Ombudsman Review of the ADF Redress of Grievance System 2004 and the June 2005 Senate Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee inquiry into The effectiveness of the Australia's military justice system, according to Ms Harris.

"The Ombudsman review recommended that Defence adopt a more strategic approach to its complaint-handling system, by expanding the role of the Complaint Resolution Agency in managing the redress of grievance system," she said.

"In its response to the Senate Committee inquiry in October 2005, the Government proposed to reform and streamline the Defence complaints and military redress of grievance system in line with the Ombudsman review recommendations, and the new branch was born.

"The new branch will also work with the Military Justice Implementation Team to institute a number of actions flowing from the Ombudsman review and Senate Committee inquiry."

First steps

In March, the 53 military and civilian members of the branch will workshop their new structure, roles and responsibilities and the way they do business.

"We want the people in the branch to contribute in shaping their future and the future of the way Defence advises on, manages and resolves military and civilian complaints," said Ms Harris.

"The new branch will create opportunities for all our people to have a more collaborative approach to advising on, and managing, complaints. The three organisations that are now part of the new branch met in August last year to identify how we could work together more effectively, albeit in an informal sense.

"Our staff were very positive about the possibilities and put forward a range of excellent ideas. I'm looking forward to our next workshop to refine some of those ideas and then implementing them."

A new website for the branch will be available shortly. You can also email any area within the branch at complaint.resolution@defence.gov.au.

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