If one of your staff or customers lodges a complaint against you or your business, our office will first check if the complaint is covered by South Australian equal opportunity law.

• If it is not, the complaint will not be accepted.
• If it is and it appears the person making the complaint may have been treated unfairly under the law, we will accept the complaint and allocate it to a Conciliation Officer.

Usually, the Conciliation Officer will then organise a conciliation conference and:

• notify you of the complaint in writing
• send you a copy of the complaint and ask you for a written or verbal response
• gather relevant information and documents from both parties.
• tell you what the complainant hopes to happen for their complaint to be resolved.

See Responding to a complaint against you (PDF, 116.5 KB) for more information.

Handling complaints made against you

Complaints against you or your organisation should be treated seriously.

Often it is not what is said, but how it is said, that can offend people.

You need to be able to handle complaints made against you.

If the complaint is about your behaviour

• Focus on the story and try not to take it as a personal attack.
• Think about whether you could have handled things differently and how you could prevent it from happening again.
• Don't reprimand or victimise the person for making the complaint.

If the complaint is about a decision

• Be prepared to explain why you made that decision.
• Keep it confidential.
• Let them know that they have the option to seek advice elsewhere.

Learn more about your responsibilities if you are an employer.