We value your feedback

At Mary’s House Services, we are committed to providing the best possible service and continuously improving our operations. We value all forms of feedback, including compliments, suggestions, general concerns and complaints. Feedback helps us enhance our services and systems to better meet the needs of our community. Mary’s House Services is committed to addressing any formal complaints with equity, fairness, accountability and transparency.  

Our Commitment

• Accessibility and Inclusivity: Everyone deserves to be heard, respected, and supported. Our feedback process is open to everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, belief, or sexual orientation.  We will offer:
  • Language support for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
  • Culturally respectful approaches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
  • Accessible formats and assistance for people with disabilities.
  • Safe and respectful engagement for LGBTQ+ individuals, recognising diverse identities and experiences.

You have the right to an advocate, support person, or interpreter when lodging a complaint or making a suggestion. Please inform our staff if you need this assistance.

• Child Safety and Wellbeing
  • We prioritise the safety and wellbeing of all children in our care.
  • All feedback and complaints related to child safety will be treated with urgency and confidentiality.
    
    
• Respect and Courtesy: Feedback is handled with respect and courtesy. We will ensure that making a complaint does not harm or prejudice the service provided to the complainant.
  
  
• Continuous Improvement: Feedback is used to improve our services. We learn from every compliment and complaint how to better serve our community.

 

How to Submit Feedback, Suggestions, Informal Concerns or Formal Complaints

You can contact us by choosing one of the following options.

Online Form:

• Feedback Form. This form is monitored by the Operations Manager.

Email:

• to corporate@maryshouse.org.au. This email is monitored by the Operations Manager. If your formal complaint is about the CEO, please ask the Operations Manager to provide you with the contact details of the Chair of the Board.

Phone:

• Call our office number on (02) 8937 2094 during business hours and ask to speak to the person at Mary’s House Services who is involved in the matter you want to provide feedback about or ask to speak with the Operations Manager for formal complaints.

Mail:

• Write to us at: PO Box 84 St Leonards NSW 1590. Address your mail to the Operations Manager and mark it “confidential”.

 

Informal concerns or suggestions

For informal concerns or suggestions, please email, phone or speak to the person at Mary’s House Services who is involved in the matter you want to provide feedback about – they will respond and try to resolve your concern and they will seek support from their manager if needed.

Formal complaints

If you have a formal complaint please contact us as soon as possible so this can be addressed promptly.  Please provide as much information as possible and let us know the outcome you are seeking.

A complaint is considered “formal” by us if you tell us about a significant concern or dissatisfaction you have with our services or operations. Formal complaints require careful investigation by us. Examples of issues that might require investigation are allegations of misconduct, breaches of policy, illegal or unethical behaviour or conduct which has a serious negative impact.

What happens when I lodge a formal complaint?

Acknowledgement

We will send written acknowledgement of your complaint within 10 business days.

Investigation

In most instances the Operations Manager, the CEO and a member of our leadership team will be involved in the investigation of your complaint. Our team will investigate the complaint thoroughly and impartially, ensuring that only those who need to be directly involved in resolving the complaint are informed. We handle complaints with sensitivity and respect for privacy.

Follow-Up

We may contact you for further information or to provide you with updates on the investigation and resolution process.

Resolution

We aim to resolve and respond to all complaints, in writing, within 30 business days. If more time is needed, we will keep you informed of progress. We will also inform you of any further action you may be able to take, including the appeals process.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, please contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments.  We will write to you within 14 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If you are not satisfied after this step and your complaint is about a donation, you can escalate your complaint to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), the national regulator of charities in Australia. The ACNC have the authority to investigate a range of issues related to a charity’s obligations. You can find more information about contacting ACNC, here.  

If you are not satisfied after this step and your complaint is about Client Services, depending on the nature of the complaint, you may be able to make a complaint directly to the NSW Ombudsman by phoning (02) 9286 1000 or online.  Please refer to the Ombudsman website for more information.

 

Complaints FAQ

Will my complaint be kept confidential? 

Your complaint will be handled with care and respect for your privacy. However, to properly investigate your complaint, we may need to share details of the complaint with relevant staff members. If you believe your complaint may be protected by Whistleblower laws, please let us know about that when you make your complaint. We will provide you with a copy of our Whistleblower policy.

Can I lodge a complaint anonymously?

We accept anonymous complaints if there is a compelling reason for you to remain anonymous. We will carry out a confidential investigation of the issues raised where there is enough information provided. If we do not know who you are, this may mean we cannot thoroughly investigate your complaint.

Can someone else lodge a complaint on my behalf?

If a person prefers or needs another person or organisation to assist or represent them in the making and/or resolution of a complaint, we will communicate with their representative. Anyone may represent a person with their consent (e.g. advocate, family member, legal or community representative, member of Parliament, another organisation).