Complaints

Introduction

Australia for UNHCR values its reputation, we recognise that an effective complaints handling system will strengthen our administrative processes and become an integral element of a high-quality management system.

We are committed to responding to all feedback, in particular all complaints that we receive. We believe that dealing appropriately with a complaint provides an opportunity for us to improve our practices and accountability, and will present opportunities to preserve and enhance our reputation and donor loyalty.

The principles that the complaints process seeks to apply are:

Complaints are managed in an open and transparent manner,
Complaints process is to be accessible and responsive,
All parties are treated fairly and with respect,
Complaints to be dealt with in an efficient, effective, and professional manner,
Privacy and personal information to be protected, and
Communication of outcomes and rationale behind the result.

The purpose of this Complaints Policy is to demonstrate our commitment to resolve complaints, and to detail the ways in which the public, stakeholders, and donors can bring their concerns to our attention.

The objective of this Policy is to:

Provide a complainant with access to an open and responsive process,
Enhance the ability of the organisation to resolve complaints in a consistent, systematic and responsive manner, to the satisfaction of the complainant and the organisation,
Enhance the ability of the organisation to identify trends and eliminate causes of complaints, and improve the organisation’s operations,
Help us create a customer-focused approach to resolving complaints, and encourage staff to improve their skills in working with customers, and
Provide a basis for continual review and analysis of the complaints-handling process, the resolution of complaints, and process improvements made.

Our Obligations

Australia for UNHCR is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct, a voluntary, self-regulatory industry code that represents the active commitment of overseas aid agencies or non-government development organisations (NGDOs) to conduct their activities with integrity and accountability. The Code aims to enhance standards throughout the NGDO community to ensure that public confidence is maintained in the way that community contributions to overseas aid are used to reduce poverty through effective and sustainable development.

If you believe we have breached this code, you are able to make an inquiry with or lodge a complaint to the ACFID Code of Conduct Committee.

Australia for UNHCR is also bound by the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) Principles & Standards of Fundraising Practice. Any person may contact the FIA with a query in relation to the Principles and Standards of Fundraising Practice. Such an inquiry may clarify whether a complaint is warranted in relation to particular activities or actions of an FIA member and whether these activities or actions constitute a possible breach of the Principles and Standards of Fundraising Practice. Where breaches of FIA's Principles and Standards of Fundraising Practice have occurred, written complaints should be directed to the FIA CEO in confidence.

Scope

The policy is designed to provide guidance on lodging a complaint and the manner in which Australia for UNHCR receives and handles complaints. It endeavours to align our procedures with our commitment to integrity, accountability and current best practices.

This policy and process is available to all people who come into contact with Australia for UNHCR, and is intended to advise and encourage them to provide feedback, raise concerns or complaints about Australia for UNHCR and applies to any complaint, regardless of who makes it.

All Australia for UNHCR representatives are expected to comply with this policy. This includes but is not limited to employees who are engaged by Australia for UNHCR on a permanent, full-time, part-time, fixed term and casual employment basis, as well as board members, volunteers, interns and contractors engaged by Australia for UNHCR.

The definition of a complaint under the Australian Standards AS ISO 10002-2006 – Customer Satisfaction – Guidelines for complaints handling is as follows:

“A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction made to an organisation, related to its products or services, or the complaints handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.”

We regard a complaint as any expressions of dissatisfaction about our organisation, our staff, volunteers, our implementation partner UNHCR, our contracted service provides or anyone else acting on our behalf.

Publicising this Policy

As the principal activity of Australia for UNHCR is to raise funds within Australia from local donors to support the humanitarian operations of the UN Refugee Agency, this policy or an appropriate extract will be made available to the public through our Australian website www.unrefugees.org.au/complaints-policy, by verbally informing stakeholders of the policy where appropriate and by providing copies of the policy on request.

Complaints relating to UNHCR Global Programs

In addition to its country and regional operations, UNHCR undertakes a range of projects and activities to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees around the world. Our Head Office is located in Geneva, which includes specific departments that oversee key areas, such as operations, protection, external relations, human resources and finances.

The High Commissioner's representatives head operations in the countries where the agency works, while there are also a number of regional representatives. Most UNHCR operations are in the field where UNHCR's core work is managed from a series of regional offices, branch offices, sub-offices and field offices.

Due to the wide geographical disbursement of its activities globally, local staff are responsible for responding to complaints relating to operations in that country. While these individual offices must operate under the UN Charters and all Codes of Conduct, they have developed additional procedures in order to fulfil the objectives and principles of the policy including putting in place appropriate mechanisms for marginalised or vulnerable people (children, women, the elderly and persons with a mental or physical disability) to express complaints in a practical and safe manner.

Lodging complaints locally in the country of origin can be done in a range of ways and decisions must be made as to what is most appropriate. UNHCR is committed to enhancing the mechanisms in place globally in the hope that everyone has access to a complaints and grievance procedure, that the complaints may be submitted either directly or confidentially, and that the procedures that need to be followed in lodging complaints should be made available to everyone in a language they understand.

The Inspector General's Office (IGO) located in Geneva is responsible for the investigation of staff and service providers who do not observe or perform their functions in line with the highest standards of integrity, and fosters a culture of respect, transparency and accountability throughout the organisation as required by the UN Charter, Code of Conduct, rules, regulations and policies.

Complaints handling Framework (Australia)

Australia for UNHCR has a responsibility to ensure all complaints are dealt with in a professional and timely manner. When a complaint is received, every attempt should be made to resolve the complaint immediately where it is a straightforward matter.

To ensure that all complaints are managed effectively, whether received in person, by phone, email or mail, Australia for UNHCR’s Donor Care Team will be responsible for managing the complaints handling process, including liaising with the relevant staff to determine the appropriate response and escalate actions as required. The Donor Care Team have the measures in place to fulfil the objectives and principles of the policy including putting the appropriate mechanisms for marginalised or vulnerable people (children, women, the elderly and persons with a mental or physical disability) to express complaints in a practical and safe manner.

Using complaints to improve our systems and processes

All feedback, concerns and complaints provide Australia for UNHCR with valuable facts on how we may improve our systems and processes. We are committed to integrating this information into our operations by ensuring that all staff and volunteers are trained and where appropriate, involved in the complaints handling process.

The handling of complaints is a key performance measure within the organisation and is regularly reported to staff, senior management and our board. The data is reviewed and analyse and we use this information to:

identify critical and recurring issues
enhance and improve our services, systems and processes
review and evaluate work practices and
identify staff learning and development needs.

Formal Complaints handling procedure

All staff members have a duty to report instances of misconduct and are required to cooperate unreservedly with any investigation. For other complainants, the allegation could be anonymous, however we encourage anyone making an allegation to provide as much information and evidence as possible. This is because it is difficult to investigate and follow-up such complaints. However, in the event that an anonymous complaint is received we will note the issues raised and, where appropriate, try and investigate and resolve them appropriately.

If possible, please provide the following information when making a complaint, providing feedback or reporting misconduct:

What alleged wrong doing are you reporting? Describe what happened, including as many details as possible.
Who committed the alleged wrong doing? Was anyone else involved? Provide full names and titles if possible.
When and where did it happen? Indicate dates and times, if available.
How did the individual commit the alleged wrong doing?
Why do you believe the activity was improper?

Important: If you have any supporting evidence to corroborate your allegation, please provide the detail, along with the names of witnesses to contact.

When a complaint cannot be resolved quickly and informally, or is assessed to be of a serious nature by staff, we will try to resolve the matter through the below formal complaints handling process.

All complaints whether received in person, by phone, fax, email or mail will be directed to a Donor Care (DC) team member, who will assess the complaint and determine the appropriate action and response.
The Donor Care team member receiving the complaint may request further information from you. You should be prepared to provide us with as much information as possible, including details of any relevant dates and documentation. This will enable us to investigate the complaint and determine an appropriate solution. All details provided will be kept confidential.
We will discuss options for resolution with you and if you have suggestions about how the matter might be resolved you can discuss these with us. At all times you will be treated respectfully and, if you are a child or youth (under 18 years of age), we will take particular care and attention to ensure you understand the process.
The Donor Care team member receiving the complaint will first assess if the complaint is within their delegation of authority and if the complaint can be dealt with in an easy and straight forward manner.
Should the complaint be outside their delegation of authority and of a serious nature, the complaint will be referred to the Donor Care Coordinator or Donor Care/Database & IT Manager.
In a number of cases, complaints may not originate through the Donor Care team. When a complaint is received that has not come through Donor Care, the Donor Care, Database and IT Manager or his/her delegate should always be advised of the complaint as soon as possible to ensure it is logged and appropriately allocated for action if required.
All complaints will be recorded in our Complaints Register which will record the discussion and any agreed actions.
If the complaint is unable to be resolved immediately by the Donor Care team member or their supervisor, an acknowledgement of the complaint will be sent by email or letter within 5 working days of the complaint being received. This will detail an approximate time frame for the complaint to be resolved.
The goal of this policy is to achieve an effective resolution of your complaint within a reasonable time frame, usually 30 days or as soon as practicable. However, in some cases, particularly if the matter is complex, the resolution may take longer.
Where a matter is complex or requires further investigation, the complaint should be resolved within a maximum of 30 days, or escalated to the attention of the National Director.
Complaints that cannot be resolved by the Donor Care team member or their supervisor to your satisfaction will be referred to the appropriate Manager for review.
It is the responsibility of the staff member who has been delegated to respond to the complaint to assess each complaint and manage each according to your concerns.
Where necessary, the complaint will be investigated by the appropriate Manager at Australia for UNHCR. We will try to do so within a reasonable time frame. It may be necessary to contact others in order to proceed with the investigation. This may be necessary in order to progress your complaint. If the Manager cannot resolve the complaint, it may be referred to the National Director, who will assess whether an Australia for UNHCR policy has been breached. If the complaint is about the National Director, it will be referred to the Board for investigation.
If your complaint involves the conduct of our employees we will raise the matter with the employee concerned and seek their comment and input in the resolution of the complaint.
The Donor Care, Database and IT Manager or his/her delegate may request status reports from staff to ensure complaints have been resolved and to ensure appropriate reporting to the National Director and Board.
If the complaint is not substantiated, or cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, but this Policy has been followed, Australia for UNHCR may decide to refer the issue to an appropriate intermediary. For example, this may mean an appropriately qualified lawyer or an agreed third party, to act as a mediator.
At the conclusion of the complaint, if you are still not satisfied with the outcome you may wish to take your complaint to an external party such as ACFID or the Fundraising Institute Australia.
If your complaint is found to be substantiated, you will be informed of this finding. We will then take appropriate agreed steps to resolve the complaint, address your concerns and prevent the problem from recurring.
The Donor Care, Database and IT Manager or his/her delegate is responsible for maintaining and updating this register. We will keep a record of your complaint, the outcome and a summary report is provided at Board Meetings.

Contact details:

Australia for UNHCR - Donor Care
In person: Level 8, 120 Sussex St Sydney NSW 2000
Mail: Reply Paid 428 Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230
Phone: 1300 361 288 (within Australia) or +61 2 9262 5377 (overseas)
Fax: 02 9262 4345
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://unrefugees.org.au/contact-us

ACFID
Mail: Private Bag 3 Deakin ACT 2600
Online: http://www.acfid.asn.au

FIA
Mail: PO Box 6542 Chatswood NSW 2057
Online: http://www.fia.org.au

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Australia for UNHCR (ABN 35 092 843 322) respects the importance of privacy and security of your personal information. This privacy policy sets out the way we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information and underpins our commitment to protecting your right to privacy. This policy reflects Australia for UNHCR’s obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (including the Australian Privacy Principles) (the Privacy Act). As members of the following bodies, we adhere to additional codes of conduct and ethical fundraising practices:

Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), complying with its Code of Conduct;
Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA), complying with its Codes of Practice;
Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA), adhering to its ethical practises for fundraising; and
Public Fundraising Regulatory Authority (PFRA), complying with its standards.

We may revise this Privacy Policy or any part of it from time to time. You will find the most current version on our website or obtain a copy from our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.

Collection of Personal Information

Australia for UNHCR follows the Australian Privacy Principles in handling personal information; we collect personal information about individuals including supporters, employees, contractors, volunteers, special representatives/delegates and job applicants. This information may be collected directly from you in person, by phone or email, on hard copy donation forms, via our website or social media. We may also collect your personal information from publically available sources or third parties.

Use of Personal Information

The personal information we collect and hold generally includes contact details (i.e. name, address, email and phone number), personal details including date of birth, and credit card or bank accounts details.

We use the personal information you provide us with for the purpose for which it was provided to us, other related purposes or as permitted or required by law. Generally we collect and use your personal information for:

processing donations;
completing financial transactions, including issuing receipts;
maintaining accurate details of our donors’ history, interests and contact preferences;
communicating with you via mail, email, SMS or phone;
responding to your questions, comments or other requests; or
offering you employment.

As detailed below we also use your information in our marketing and fundraising activities, keeping you informed of our latest news, campaigns and appeals or about campaigns and appeals which may be of interest to you. We may also offer you the opportunity to participate in surveys carried out by Australia for UNHCR or its agents.

By completing our donation and pledge forms you consent to Australia for UNHCR storing your personal information for processing donations, communicating with you, issuing receipts and sharing with our trusted service providers. We will endeavour to provide you with an opportunity to opt out of receiving future communications and make every effort to ensure that our opt-out notices are clear and easy to follow. If you do not wish to receive future communications from Australia for UNHCR or wish to limit the use of your personal information then please contact our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.

Direct Marketing

We use your personal details to assist in the cost-effective development of our marketing and fundraising activities by sending you information by post, email, SMS or telephone. As we have a large number of supporters, at times we use external providers to assist with our telemarketing and mailing. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that our contracts with third parties include requirements for third parties to comply with the use and disclosure requirements of the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Disclosure and Sharing of Personal Information

We occasionally invite other like-minded and trusted organisations in Australia to contact you with information that may be of interest. This allows Australia for UNHCR to increase its base of supporters and reach more people with our vital message.

Any personal contact information you provide to us may be disclosed, if appropriate, to third parties who provide services on our behalf. We may also disclose your personal information to our volunteers who assist with many of our events and administration duties.

Strict confidentiality agreements are in place with our service providers and external agencies, and with staff and volunteers who handle your personal information. We will only disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, other directly related purposes or purposes to which you otherwise consent.

Other than as stated above, we will not share your personal information. However, it is possible, though unlikely, that we might be forced to disclose personal information in response to legal processes or when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, for example, in response to a court order, subpoena or a law enforcement agency's request.

If you do not wish Australia for UNHCR to share your personal information with like-minded and trusted organisations in Australia, you may opt out by ticking the related boxes on our donation pledge forms or by contacting our Donor Care team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.

Access and Correction of Personal Information

Australia for UNHCR will correct its records containing personal information as soon as practically possible at the request of the individual concerned in accordance with the Privacy Act. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect and hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, we rely on you to advise us of any changes to your personal information to help us maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date information.

We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you unless otherwise required or permitted by law. We will notify you of the basis for any denial of access to your personal information.

Individuals wishing to lodge a request to access and/or correct their personal information should do so by contacting our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this document.

Quality of Personal Information

Australia for UNHCR will review, on a regular and ongoing basis, its collection and storage practices to ascertain how improvements to accuracy can be achieved. We may utilise the services of third parties in order to maintain accurate personal information. Where such disclosure is made, we take reasonable steps to require these organisations comply with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Storage and Security of Information

We strive to protect your personal information, that it is protected from misuse, loss, interference and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. For example, whenever we ask for your financial details online, we use industry standard security on our website forms.

No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, Australia for UNHCR cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us over the internet, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to try and ensure its security both on our systems and while in transit between our systems and the companies who provide us with various services. Third party service providers may use data centres overseas or be located overseas. If you do not wish to make your financial contribution online, please contact our Donor Care Team to receive a hard copy form; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.

Making a Privacy Complaint

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this privacy policy, the Privacy Act or the Australian Privacy Principles you can contact our Donor Care Team; contact details are included at the bottom of this policy.

We will manage your complaint in accordance with our Complaints Policy. You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint as well as any supporting evidence and/or information. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation. If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns. If your complaint is about the way we handle your personal information, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by calling 1300 363 992, online at www.oaic.gov.au or writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

A4U does not have an establishment in the European Union (EU), does not offer goods or services to individuals in the EU and does not monitor behaviour of individuals as far as their behaviour takes place in the EU. Individuals located in the EU should contact UNHCR’s National Representatives in their respective countries or via the global UNHCR website.

Online Activity and Privacy

Cookies

Cookies are small text files which are downloaded to and stored on your device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners to provide you with a good experience while you browse, and also to provide information which can help website owners to improve websites.

Our site uses cookies to:

make our site work
collect anonymous data on how users navigate our site, which helps us to improve it
allow you to share our content on social networks
help us provide relevant advertising to those who may be interested in it.

We do not use cookies to:

collect any personally identifiable information
pass personal identifiable data to third parties.

What cookies do we use and for what purposes?

The cookies used on our site fall into four categories – strictly necessary cookies, functional cookies, performance cookies and advertising cookies. Each of these categories is explained below along with details of the specific cookies used, though within each category we may use additional or alternative cookies at any time.

Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be performance cookies or advertising cookies.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for our site to work, for example to allow you to make a donation, submit a service request or register for an event on our site.

Functional cookies

These cookies enhance your experience whilst using the site by recognising you when you return to our site; for example, by remembering your content or accessibility preferences.

Performance cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use our websites, such as which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies do not collect personal information; all information collected by these cookies is aggregated and therefore anonymous.

Advertising cookies

These cookies contain campaign related information on or for the user. Remarketing is a way for us to connect with people who have recently interacted with our site. We may place remarketing cookies on your device during your visit so that our preferred selected third-party suppliers, including Google, may use the information gathered to show you relevant Australia for UNHCR advertising when you visit other websites. If we have linked our Google Analytics and AdWords accounts, AdWords website conversion tags will read these cookies unless you opt-out.

Third party cookies, pixels and SDKs

We use some third party services or software on our website including cookies, Facebook pixels and SDKs. Third parties, including Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter may use cookies, web beacons and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our website and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. A4U does not control the setting of these services or software, so we suggest you check the third party website for more information about how to opt out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting.

To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them on a wide variety of desktop browsers, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.aboutads.info/choices

Why we use cookies

When you visit our website our server tracks non-personal statistical information about your experience on the site, such as pages viewed and donation details. Australia for UNHCR websites uses cookies and tracking technology to enhance your experience and deliver content relevant to your behaviour. This enables us to gather information such as the number of website visits and how you interact with our website. We use this information to help us understand more about how our site is used, so we can continually improve your experience.

We also use cookies for tracking the statistics of our website, which allows us to better understand your visit and improve the layout and functionality of our website. This analysis is conducted in such a way to ensure the anonymity of visitors while the information can help us customise the online experience for visitor to our site. No personally identifiable information is obtained. Information is gathered at an aggregate level and may be shared with third parties to help us analyse website usage and deliver marketing material.

By accepting our cookie policy and continuing to use our sites without changing settings, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Controlling the use of cookies

If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to either prompt you to accept cookies on each visit or refuse all cookies.

Most internet browsers automatically accept cookies unless you change your browser settings. If you wish to restrict, block or delete the cookies which are set by any websites, you can generally do this through your browser settings. These settings are usually found in the 'options' or 'preferences' menu of your internet browser.

Please note however, that if you set your internet browser preferences to block all cookies, you may not be able to access all or parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your internet browser settings to block cookies, our site will set cookies.

We use some third party services or software on our website. Third parties, including Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter may use cookies, web beacons and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our website and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. A4U does not control the setting of these cookies, so we suggest you check the third party website for more information about how to opt out of their collection and use of information for ad targeting.

Social Media

Our website and mobile site may contain links to online forums. Think carefully before you post or publish any Personal Information in these forums as it will be publicly available.

Secure Online Transactions

If you make a donation via our website, we process your credit/debit card details securely using an accredited internet payment security system. With the combination of SSL encryption on our website and a secure browser at your end, we take all reasonable measures to ensure that your credit/debit card and personal information are protected when you donate online. We also recommend that you take appropriate security precautions when accessing the internet via public Wi-Fi networks or shared computers.

Contact Us

You will find the most current version of our Privacy Policy on our website at privacy-policy.

If you have any questions about your privacy, wish to access or change your details, how to lodge a complaint regarding the handling of your information and how that complaint will be handled by Australia for UNHCR, please contact our Donor Care Team:

by phone on 1300 361 288 (within Australia) or +61 (0)2 9262 5377 (overseas);
mail us at Reply Paid 428 QUEEN VICTORIA BUILDING NSW 1230 (no stamp required)
via email on [email protected]; or
fax on 02 9262 4345.

Complaints Handling Policy