Complaints

Complaints

Complaints and Feedback

At Housing Choices, we are committed to providing quality affordable housing services and an exceptional resident experience. We value your feedback – both compliments and complaints. When you tell us about your experiences with us it helps us understand what you need from our services and how we can improve them.

View the Compliments, Complaints and Appeals brochure here

Initial contact

If you feel that we have not dealt with things properly or we have not provided you with the service you expected, then you can make a complaint. In most cases, these issues can be resolved quickly by talking to staff about them.

Customers may make a complaint to anyone in the organisation. We will try to deal with the issue straight away.

If you are unhappy about our services or want to appeal a decision we have made, you can expect us to:

  • record, investigate and try to resolve the matter
  • let you know what is happening throughout the process
  • deal fairly and effectively with your concern
  • use information from complaints and appeals to review and improve the way we do things in the future.

Initially, your complaint will be sent to a manager to look into and they will contact you to discuss this directly, so please provide a daytime telephone number.

Investigation

When we receive a formal complaint, we will acknowledge it within one working day and will refer it to the relevant manager. We will check whether you need any kind of support, and we will explain the procedure.

Most complaints can be resolved within 10 working days, but sometimes it will take longer. In that case, we will write to you within 30 days outlining any future action to be taken.

If the timescale we agree needs to be changed for any reason, we will consult with you.

We will provide a full written response in plain English. It will contain a summary of the complaint, our response including any action we are taking, an apology if appropriate, and details of how to appeal against our decision.

How do I send a compliment, complaint or feedback?

You can tell us your views:

  • by telephoning customer services on 1300 312 447
  • in person
  • by letter, or
  • by email to: complaints@hcau.org.au

Learn more about our Feedback and Complaints Policy here.

Read the Appeals Policy here.

Read the Managing Unreasonable Complaints or Complainant Conduct Policy here.

Read the Whistleblower Policy here.

Support

We accept complaints in any language. If a customer needs help to put their complaint in writing, or needs an interpreter to help them make a verbal complaint, we will make the necessary arrangements for this on request.

Appeals

If you believe we have not provided you with an adequate response, or you believe that our response is wrong, you can appeal. On receipt of an appeal we will refer the matter to an investigator, who will be a manager who has not been involved in the original investigation of the complaint. The appointed manager will either:

  • refer the complaint back to the service with a request to reconsider all or specific parts of the complaint
  • investigate the matter and review the original decision
  • advise that no further action will be taken, if they decide that the complaint has been dealt with fairly, and in accordance with our policies and procedures at the formal stage.

If are not confident in bringing your complaint to us or you feel that your Complaint or Formal Appeal has not been managed well or is not resolved by Housing Choices Australia you can make a formal complaint to:

Office of Housing Registrar 
Phone: 1300 650 172 
www.housingregistrar.vic.gov.au

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)  
Phone: 03 9628 9800
www.vcat.vic.gov.au

Make a complaint