Complaint categories | Sub-categories | Example | Number of Complaints 2020-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
Professional behaviour | Staff attitude | Failure to demonstrate values such as empathy, respect, fairness, courtesy, extra mile; cultural competency | 31 |
Professional behaviour | Staff competency | Failure to action service request; poorly informed decisions; incorrect or incomplete service provided | 928 |
Professional behaviour | Staff knowledge | Lack of service specific knowledge; incomplete or out-of-date knowledge | 0 |
Communication | Communication quality | Inadequate, delayed or absent communication with customer | 0 |
Communication | Confidentiality | Customer’s confidentiality or privacy not respected; information shared incorrectly | 73 |
Service delivery | Systems/technology | System offline; inaccessible to customer; incorrect result/information provided; poor system design | 0 |
Service delivery | Access to services | Service difficult to find; location poor; facilities/ environment poor standard; not accessible to customers with disabilities | 22 |
Service delivery | Process | Processing error; incorrect process used; delay in processing application; process not customer responsive | 0 |
Policy | Policy application | Incorrect policy interpretation; incorrect policy applied; conflicting policy advice given | 0 |
Policy | Policy content | Policy content difficult to understand; policy unreasonable or disadvantages customer | 0 |
Service quality | Information | Incorrect, incomplete, out dated or inadequate information; not fit for purpose | 0 |
Service quality | Access to information | Information difficult to understand, hard to find or difficult to use; not plain English | 0 |
Service quality | Timeliness | Lack of staff punctuality; excessive waiting times (outside of service standard); timelines not met | 79 |
Service quality | Safety | Maintenance; personal or family safety; duty of care not shown; poor security service/ premises; poor cleanliness | 0 |
Service quality | Service responsiveness | Service design doesn’t meet customer needs; poor service fit with customer expectations | 795 |
No case to answer | No case to answer | Third party; customer misunderstanding; redirected to another agency; insufficient information to investigate | 0 |
Total | 1928 |
| Additional Metrics | Total |
|---|---|
% complaints resolved within policy timeframes* | 100% |
* Determined in accordance with Section 13(5) Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016.
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/annual-reporting-data
Service Improvements resulting from complaints or consumer suggestions over 2020-21 |
The introduction of body worn video has resulted in improved timeframes for assessing complaint matters and determining appropriate outcomes. The body worn video provides for prompt review of the police conduct, and had on many occasions quickly cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. SAPOL’s Internal Investigation Section (IIS) has established a new process to focus on ‘Early Intervention’ with officers who are identified as having an over-representation in some of the areas monitored by the SAPOL’s Ethical and Professional Standards Branch. These areas include internal and external complaints, ‘Use of Force’ reports, bullying and harassment complaints, on-duty expiation notices and conflict of interest declarations. The IIS team speak to any officer who meets the ‘Early Intervention’ criteria so as to further determine whether there are any background issues the officer is facing which can be resolved through training and education or other forms of counselling. The IIS team can also offer advice on how to better resolve future situations so that their conduct improves and is therefore less likely to be the subject of a complaint. The section can organise support and assistance from other areas of SAPOL or external providers where welfare issues are a concerning factor. |
South Australia Police is compliant with Premier and Cabinet Circular 039 – complaint management in the South Australian public sector | Y |
South Australia Police has communicated the content of PC 039 and the agency’s related complaints policies and procedures to employees. | Y |
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