Complaint Resolution

Support person role

A complainant can have a support person to assist at any time during the complaint process.

A support person’s role may include:

• discussing difficulties the complainant is experiencing in relation to the complaint
• helping to develop a good working relationship between the family and the school
• assisting the complainant to understand department policy and guidelines and the resolution being proposed for the complaint.

A support person can be a family member, a friend, a community member, or a person provided through a support or advocacy agency to serve as a support person.

A support person is distinguishable from an advocate in that their role is not to present on behalf of or defend the person they are assisting, and they do not receive a fee.

An example of an advocacy agency are disability advocates. A list of some disability advocate agencies that complainants can be referred to can be found at the Better Health Channel’s Disability groups and networks.

All parties involved in the complaint must follow the guiding principles of resolving complaints, including support persons.

A complainant must advise the school or department that they want to include a support person, advocate or another representative when making a complaint, and provide the name and relationship of the complainant to the nominated person.

For privacy reasons, complainants must provide the school or department with written authorisation (by email or letter) if they would like to authorise a support person or advocate to communicate with the school or department on their behalf, or if they wish to withdraw the authorisation.

Similarly, the school must inform the complainant of the name and role/position of any other people they would like to involve, including department staff, to assist with the complaint process.