Compliments and complaints

The Department of Youth Justice is going through machinery of government changes. During this period, some of our processes remain with the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women.

We want to hear your feedback – good or bad – to help us ensure we are delivering a quality service to the community.

We (the Department of Youth Justice) are collecting your personal information for managing your complaint in accordance with complaints management policies.

We may disclose your personal information to other agencies or third parties for the purpose of responding to or managing your complaint, or for evaluation purposes. Your personal information will be handled in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld). Find out more about our privacy policy.

Please note: If you use the webchat service on this page, your personal information may be collected by LivePerson (the company that provides the online messaging technology used to provide the WebChat service), and that information may be transferred overseas. By using WebChat, you consent to that overseas transfer. For more information about how LivePerson may use or disclose your personal information please read their privacy notice on the LivePerson website.

Compliments

To tell us about something we’ve done well, you can submit a compliment by:

Complaints

We are committed to effective complaints management and will deal with all complaints against our actions, decisions or officers’ conduct in a responsive, confidential and fair manner. Complaints can be made regarding a range of issues, including:

  • a decision we have made or not made
  • the service we have provided or not provided
  • a service that is funded by us
  • the behaviour of our employees
  • one of our acts or practices in relation to the individual's personal information that may be a breach of our obligation under the Information Privacy Act 2009.

If your complaint is about the way the department has handled personal information about you, please refer to privacy complaints.

A complaint about a decision or action of the department must be made no later than 12 months after the complainant was notified or made aware of the decision or action. Complaints made outside this period will only be reviewed if the department considers that exceptional circumstances warrant consideration of the out-of-time complaint.

Please find following our complaints management procedure that applies to our services.

Complaints management procedure

You can raise a complaint about us or a funded service provider through our complaints management process below. You can find out more by reading our complaints management procedure (DOCX) or complaints management policy (DOCX), as well as the fact sheets at the bottom of this page.

Try to resolve the complaint

Complaints are best resolved at the local or regional level, so in the first instance please contact your local service centre. Service centre managers are responsible for managing complaints in service centres.

Make a complaint

If your complaint can’t be resolved or you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, please contact our central Complaints Unit. Write down everything relevant to the matter in the order in which it happened. Make sure you include a description of what happened, dates, phone calls, letters and meetings. Let us know the outcome you are seeking or the action you want us to take.

You can make a formal complaint by:

  • phoning 1800 080 464 (free call)
  • sending an email
  • using the online form
  • posting your feedback to: 

    Complaints Unit
    Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women
    Locked Bag 3405, Brisbane Qld 4001

We will provide and pay for professional interpreting services for clients who have difficulties communicating in English, and can also arrange for interpreters in Auslan and other sign languages when required. Find out more about interpreter and translator services.

What happens after you make a complaint

Once we’ve received your complaint, the departmental officer managing your complaint will keep you informed on its progress and any action taken. On completion of the complaint process, the departmental officer will take note of how your complaint was managed and whether you are satisfied with the outcome.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your complaint, you can request that our Complaints Unit reviews the process. If following this review you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can contact the Queensland Ombudsman to request an independent review by phoning them on 1800 068 908 or sending an email.

Complaints about a youth detention centre

If you are a parent or carer of someone in a youth detention centre and something has or has not happened that you are unhappy about, you can make a complaint about it. Learn more about complaints about a youth detention centre.

Your child can also make a complaint.

Other key complaint resolution contacts

While every attempt will be made to resolve your complaint, sometimes we might not be the most appropriate agency to help you. Other key complaint resolution contacts are:

More information