Biodiversity

Conservation
Trust
Complaints and Consumer Response
Standard Operating Procedures | May 2020
 NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust

Contents

Document Control.................................................................................................................................. 3

Glossary of Terms................................................................................................................................. 4

Purpose................................................................................................................................................. 5

Overview................................................................................................................................................ 6

1. Complaint is received..................................................................................................................... 7

1.1 Complaint received directly by the BCT.................................................................................7

1.2 Complaint received via the Minister’s office...........................................................................7

2. Complaint is saved in CM9............................................................................................................. 8

2.1 Complaint relates to a particular agreement/s.......................................................................8

2.2 Complaint does NOT relate to any particular agreement/s..................................................17

3. Complaint is recorded in the CRM................................................................................................18

3.1 Staff with access to the CRM...............................................................................................18

3.2 Staff without access to the CRM..........................................................................................19

4. Receipt of the complaint is acknowledged....................................................................................20

4.1 Acknowledgement of receipt is provided in writing...............................................................20

4.2 Acknowledgement of receipt is provided over the phone.....................................................20

5. Complaint is resolved................................................................................................................... 22

6. Complaint is closed in the CRM................................................................................................... 24

7. Background information................................................................................................................ 27

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Document Control
Title BCT Complaints Handling and Consumer Response SOP

Current version number and Version 1, XX/XX/XXXX

approval date

CM9 Reference Number TBA

Issue Date Revision Approved by Position

description

1 12/02/2020 Draft issue

Do you have suggestions?

This document was drafted and approved by Strategy and Governance, Biodiversity Conservation
Trust.
Any feedback you have to provide on this document is welcome and may be provided to the Manager,
Strategy and Goverance.

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Glossary of Terms
Term Definition

Action due date The date by which the BCT is to have provided a response to the
complaint.
BCT Agreement Any of the agreements currently administered by the BCT, be they
Biodiversity Stewardship Agreements (BSAs), Conservation
Agreements (CAs), Wildlife Refuge Agreements (WRAs), or other.
BCT Region The BCT Region to which the complaint relates.
Business Stakeholder The business that is under the directorship of the complainant.
Category The type of interaction, be it an inquiry or a complaint. All
interactions in the nature of complaints are to be given the
category, “Complaint”.
Complaint Any expression of dissatisfaction made to or about us, our services,
staff or the handling of a complaint where a response or resolution is
explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required.
Confidential complaint Any complaint that should not be known to any particular member/s
of staff at the BCT.
An example of a confidential complaint is a complaint about a
member of staff at the BCT that, if it were known to this member of
staff that a complaint had been made about them, may cause them
to destroy evidence that any complaint was made and/or evidence
substantiating the complaint. A confidential complaint can also be
any complaint that exposes any member of staff at the BCT to the
possibility of distress or embarrassment and/or to risk of reprisal.
Conversation/Interaction The text of the complaint, or, if overly lengthy, a comprehensive
summary of the complaint.
Individual Participant The complainant.
Inquiry Status An indicator of whether the complaint is “Open” (i.e., has yet to
receive a response from the BCT) or “Closed” (i.e., has received a
response from the BCT).
Inquiry Sub-Category A selectable CRM interaction field to which the complaint relates.
Owner The member of staff to whom responsibility for responding to the
complaint on behalf of the BCT is assigned.
Topic A brief summary of the matter to which the complaint relates.

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Purpose
The purpose of this SOP is to document the means by which complaints and other feedback are to be
recorded in the BCT’s Customer Relationship Management System (CRM).
In achieving this purpose, the SOP seeks to support the BCT’s compliance with its obligations under
the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984 and Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Regulation
2015 .It further seeks to ensure compliance with the Department of Planning, Industry and
Environment’s (DPIE’s) Complaint Management Policy (the Policy) and ensure that commitments
given in the BCT’s own Customer Service Charter and Guarantee of Service are met by the BCT.
Staff are encouraged to make reference to this SOP for guidance whenever the BCT receives a
complaint, whether the complaint is received directly at the BCT or via the Minister’s office.

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Overview
Step Responsible Action Relevant
documents
1. Complaint is received
1.1 All staff BCT receives complaint
Complaint is saved in CM9
3.1 All staff Save the complaint in CM9. Records
If the complaint relates to a Management
particular agreement/s, the Guide
complaint is to be saved in the
“Communication” or
“Correspondence” Sub-Folder
within the relevant agreement
Electronic Folder and
alternatively within the
Complaints Electronic Folder
at EF20/21335
If the complaint does NOT
relate to any particular
agreement/s, it is to be saved
in the Complaints Electronic
Folder at EF20/21335
Complaint is recorded in the CRM
2.1 All staff with access to the CRM, Open CRM and create a new CRM Quick
and otherwise the Customer interaction Reference Guide
Relations Officer, Programs
Receipt of complaint is acknowledged
4.1 All staff with access to the CRM, If received directly by the BCT,
and otherwise the Customer acknowledge receipt of
Relations Officer, Programs complaint and indicate
timeframe for response
4.2 Executive Officer, Office of the If received as a Ministerial,
Chief Executive acknowledge receipt of the
complaint and indicate
timeframe for response
Complaint is resolved
5.1 All staff Respond to the complaint and BCT Procedural
save in CM9 Guidance -
Handling
Complaints
Complaint is closed in the CRM
6.1 All staff with access to the CRM, Close the interaction CRM Quick
and otherwise the Customer Reference Guide
Relations Officer, Programs
Complaint is closed in CM9
6.2 All staff Ensure all relevant
documentation (e.g., email
responses, letters, etc.) is
saved in CM9

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1. Complaint is received
Responsibility: All staff

1.1 Complaint received directly by the BCT

All staff can receive complaints. Accordingly, all staff must, if they should receive any communication
from any of the BCT’s external stakeholders:
1. Determine whether the communication you have received constitutes a complaint within the
meaning of the Complaint Management Policy. If you are unable to determine this for
yourself, forward the communication to the Strategy and Governance Mailbox at
strategy.governance@bct.nsw.gov.au for advice and assistance from the Policy Officer
(Governance).
If it is determined that the communication you have received is not a complaint within the meaning of
the Complaint Mangement Policy, you have no further responsibilities under this SOP and the
correspondence can be handled in accordance with usual procedures.

1.2 Complaint received via the Minister’s office

Occasionally, complaints about the BCT are made to the Minister’s office rather than directly to the
BCT.
When this occurs, the complaint is referred to the BCT for the attention of the BCT’s Executive Officer,
such that the complaint is effectively received by the Executive Officer and, like any other member of
staff who receives a complaint, the Executive Officer is responsible for determining whether the
complaint is in fact a complaint within the meaning of the Complaint Management Policy. The Policy
Officer (Governance) is available to help in making this determination if required.
If it is determined that the complaint is not a complaint within the meaning of the Complaint
Management Policy, the Executive Officer has no further responsibilities under this SOP and the
correspondence can be handled in accordance with usual procedures.

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2. Complaint is saved in CM9

Responsibility: All staff with access to the CRM, and otherwise the Customer Relations Officer,
Programs
All complaints received at the BCT are to be saved in CM9. As such, where complaints are conveyed
orally, they must be documented in writing by the member of staff to whom they are conveyed.

2.1 Complaint relates to a particular agreement/s

Where the complaint relates to any particular agreement/s, it is to be saved in the “Communication” or
“Correspondence” Sub-Folder within the relevant agreement Electronic Folder and alternatively
within the Complaints Electronic Folder at EF20/21335. To do this:

1. Save the complaint at your desired location (not necessary if the complaint was received via
email).
2. Open CM9.
3. Search by “Title word” for the agreement number (see below).

4. The same file structure, comprising an Electronic Folder and a series of Sub-Folders, has
been set up in CM9 for each of the BCT’s agreements. Double click on the Electronic Folder
to open (see below).

5. Having opened the Electronic Folder, you will see that it contains a “Communication” Sub-
Folder (it is sometimes called the “Correspondence” Sub-Folder) (see below). Drag the
complaint (whether from your Outlook Inbox or from wherever you have saved it) and drop on
top of the “Communication” Sub-Folder.

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A dialogue box will open asking you to select from a list of record types as appropriate (see
below). Double click on “BCT Electronic Document”.

6. The “New BCT Electronic Document” dialogue box will now have opened. At “Title”, give
the record a title and, at “Author”, give the name of the complainant (as the author of the
complaint). Click “OK” at the bottom left of the dialogue box (see below).

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a. If the complainant is known to the BCT and does not share his or her name with anyone
else and has not been created any more than once in CM9, clicking “OK” will create the
new BCT Electronic Document.
b. If the complainant is known to the BCT but shares his or her name with someone else or
has been created more than once in CM9, clicking “OK” will open the “Select from
Locations…” dialogue box (see below).

i. Select as appropriate from the list of options and click “OK”.

c. If the complainant is unknown to the BCT, clicking “OK” will open another dialogue box
notifying you that “<Complainant Name> does not exist or is not suitable for this purpose”
(see below). Click “OK” to close.

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i. You will have been returned to the “New BCT Electronic Document” dialogue box with
the complainant name still indicated at “Author”. Click on the blue folder to the right of
their name (see below) to open the “Select from Locations…” dialogue box.

ii. In the white space above the line dividing the “Select from Locations…” dialogue box
in two, right click and hover the mouse over “New Location” to show “New Person”
(see below). Click on “New Person” to open the “New Person” dialogue box.

The “New Person” dialogue box will be pre-filled with the name you had indicated at
“Author” in the “New BCT Electronic Document” dialogue box (i.e., the name of the
complainant). Click “OK”.
iii. You will have been returned to the “Select from Locations…” dialogue box. Click “OK”
at the bottom right of the dialogue box.

7. The complaint has now been saved as a new BCT Electronic Document in the relevant
agreement Electronic Folder. Right click on it to display the action menu and click on
“Properties” (see below).

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8. Along the top of the “Properties” dialogue box, in the middle, click on the “Related Records”
tab (see below).

9. In the white space above the line dividing the “Properties” dialogue box in two, right click and
click on “Add Related record” to open the “Add Related record” dialogue box (see below).

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10. Where you are asked to indicate “Relationship Type”, select “Alternatively within” and,
when you come to “With record” at the bottom of the dialogue box, indicate the Complaints
EF Record Number (EF20/21335) (see below). Click “OK”.

11. You will have been returned to the “Properties” dialogue box. Click “OK”.
12. The complaint is now saved in the relevant agreement Electronic Folder and alternatively
within the Complaints Electronic Folder.

If the complaint is a confidential complaint, access is finally to be restricted in CM9. To do this:

1. Right click on the new BCT Electronic Document to have been created for the complaint to
display the action menu and click on “Properties”.
2. Click on the “Security and Access” tab that is third from the left (see below).

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3. At the far right, click “Add” (see below) and select from the list of “Security Caveats” as
appropriate by clicking to the left of them so that a tick appears before them (see below).

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4. Click “OK”. Access to the complaint is now restricted to staff who satisfy whatever “Secuirty
Caveats” have been applied.
5. Click back on the “BCT Electronic Document” tab at the far left.
6. Click “Save”.

2.2 Complaint does NOT relate to any particular agreement/s

Where the complaint does NOT relate to any particular agreement/s, it is to be saved in the
Complaints Electronic Folder only. To do this:

1. Save the complaint at your desired location (not necessary if the complaint was conveyed via
email).
2. Open CM9.
3. Search by “Record Number” for “EF20/21335”.
4. Searching as above will return only one result, being the Complaints Electronic Folder. Drag
the complaint (whether from your Outlook Inbox or from where you have saved it) and drop on
top of this Complaints Electronic Folder.
5. Follow the process as set out above from Step 6 to Step 7.
6. The complaint has now been saved as a new BCT Electronic Document in the Complaints
Electronic Folder.

If the complaint is a confidential complaint, access is finally to be restricted in CM9. To do this:

1. Right click on the new BCT Electronic Document to have been created for the complaint to
display the action menu and click on “Properties”.
2. Click on the “Security and Access” tab that is third from the left.
3. At the far right, click “Add” and select from the list of “Security Caveats” as appropriate by
clicking to the left of them so that a tick appears before them.
4. Click “OK”. Access to the complaint is now restricted to staff who satisfy whatever “Secuirty
Caveats” have been applied.
5. Click back on the “BCT Electronic Document” tab at the far left.
6. Click “Save”.

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3. Complaint is recorded in the CRM

Responsibility: All staff with access to the CRM, and otherwise the Customer Relations Officer,
Programs.
All staff who receive a complaint are responsible for recording that complaintensuring it is recorded in
the CRM either by themselves, or if they do not have access to the CRM, by the Customer Relations
Officer.; however, the means by which this shall occur will differ between staff with access to the CRM
and staff without.

3.1 Staff with access to the CRM

Having saved the complaint in CM9, you are next responsible for recording the complaint in the CRM.
To do this:
1) Sign in to the CRM.
2) Create an “interaction” for the complaint in the CRM (for guidance in how to do this, refer to
the BCT CRM - Standard Operating Procedure available at DOC19/738449 in CM9).

a) Where you are asked to indicate the CM9 Reference Number, copy the CM9 Reference
Number corresponding to the record that is created when the complaint is saved in CM9
(see Complaint is saved in CM9) and paste here.

3) Click Save.

In creating any “interaction” for a complaint that is not a confidential complaint (see Error: Reference
source not found), detail must be indicated against each of the following:

 Inquiry Status
 Category
 How were we contacted?
 Individual Participant/Business Stakeholder
 BCT Agreement (as appropriate)
 Topic
 CM9 Reference Number
 Owner
 Action due date.

Conversely, where the complaint is a “confidential complaint”, detail is only to be indicated against
“Inquiry Status”, “Category”, “Action due date” and “CM9 Reference Number” of the fields listed
above.
Having created the interaction, you are the default interaction “Owner”. To change the interaction
“Owner” (to show the name of the member of staff to have responded or who is to respond):
1. Click to view the interaction and, at “Owner”, click on the image of a head in silhouette and an
arrow pointing in opposing directions (see below).

2. Indicate the name of the relevant member of staff and click “Change Owner”.

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Nothing that does or which could feasibly breach confidentiality or privacy is to be recorded in
the CRM. Complaints that appear to be of a highly contentious or political nature should also be
brought to the attention of the Executive Officer as soon as they have been recorded in the CRM.

3.2 Staff without access to the CRM

Having saved the complaint in CM9, you are next responsible for bringing the complaint to the
attention of the Customer Relations Officer via the BCT Info Mailbox so that it may be recorded by the
Customer Relations Officer in the CRM.
The BCT’s Customer Relations Officer will monitor the BCT Info Mailbox at least once daily for
complaints conveyed by staff via email and, in the event that any complaint is conveyed by this
means, will record the complaint as an interaction in the CRM in the same way as any other member
of staff with access to the CRM would do (see above).
The Customer Relations Officer will have recorded any complaint conveyed by email to the BCT Info
Mailbox no later than two (2) business days after receipt in the BCT Info Mailbox.
Confirmation that the complaint has been recorded in the CRM will then be provided by the Customer
Relations Officer in an email to the referring member of staff, with this email to quote the CRM
interaction ID that is generated when the complaint is recorded in the CRM.

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4. Receipt of the complaint is acknowledged

Responsibility: All staff, and otherwise the Customer Relations Officer, Programs
Except where complaints are resolved at first contact with the BCT and/or are received via the
Minister’s office, acknowledgement of receipt of a complaint is to be provided to the complainant by
whomever the staff member recordsoing the complaint in the CRM.
Acknowledgement of receipt of a complaint is to be provided no later than four (4) business days
following receipt. It is to be provided in writing where the complainant’s email or postal address is
known to the BCT, and is otherwise to be provided over the phone.

4.1 Acknowledgement of receipt is provided in writing

To acknowledge receipt of a complaint in writing:

1. Go to Error: Reference source not found.
2. Copy the contents of the template and paste into a blank email.
3. Sign in to the CRM and go to the relevant interaction.
4. Copy the CRM interaction ID.
5. Paste the CRM interaction ID where reference is made to a customer reference number in
what you have just copied to your email.
6. Return to the interaction in the CRM.
7. Click on the name of the “Individual Participant” to open their CRM Profile.
8. Copy their email and paste where you are asked to indicate the email of the person to whom
you intend to send your email.
9. Send the email.
10. Return to the interaction in the CRM and update to reflect that acknowledgement of receipt of
the complaint has been sent.

4.2 Acknowledgement of receipt is provided over the phone

To acknowledge receipt of a complaint over the phone:
1. Sign in to the CRM and go to the relevant interaction.
2. Click on the name of the “Individual Participant” to open their CRM Profile.
3. Click on their contact number.
4. Clicking on their contact number will open a dialogue box asking you to confirm that you wish
to “Make a call” from “Skype for Business”. Click on “Skype for Business” to make the call.
5. On the phone with the complainant:
a. Confirm that the BCT has received their complaint;
b. Provide the CRM interaction ID for their reference;
c. Inform them that the BCT will have responded to their complaint within ten (10) working
days;
d. Ask for an email or postal address for the complainant so that the BCT may respond to
their complaint in writing and explain that, if they do not have an email or postal address
to provide and/or do not wish to provide one, the BCT will respond to their complaint over
the phone.

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6. Return to the interaction in the CRM and update to reflect that acknowledgement of receipt of
the complaint has been provided.

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5. Complaint is resolved
Responsibility: All staff with access to the CRM, and otherwise the Customer Relations Officer,
Programs
All complaints received by the BCT are to receive a response from the BCT no later than ten (10)
business days following receipt.
Refer to 8.1.3 – Initial assessment and addressing of complaints and 8.1.4 – Providing reasons
for decisions of the Complaint Management Policy for guidance on how to respond to complaints.
Refer also to “Error: Reference source not found” below for guidance and instruction as to who
shall respond to complaints at the BCT.
Unless the BCT does not have an email or postal address for the complainant, responses are to be in
writing. Responses are otherwise to be provided over the phone and the response documented in
writing by the member of staff to have provided it.
When the response is sent (or, in the case of responses provided over the phone, documented in
writing), the response is to be saved as a “BCT Response/Attachment Document” with the
complaint in CM9. To do this:

1. Save the response at your desired location (if the response is sent by email, you can save the
response in CM9 straight from your Outlook Sent Items without first saving it elsewhere).
2. Sign in to CM9 and search for the record to have been created for the complaint.
Tip: you may like to search for the interaction in the CRM and, when it is found, copy the
“CM9 Reference Number” and paste where you are asked to indicate “Matching criteria” in
CM9 (see below). You may then search by “Record Number” in CM9 for the “CM9 Reference
Number” matching that which you have just pasted in CM9.

3. Drag the response (whether from your Outlook Sent Items or from wherever you have saved
it) and drop on top of the BCT Electronic Document to have been created for the complaint.
4. A dialogue box will open asking you to select from a list of record types as appropriate (see
below). Double click on “BCT Response/Attachment Document”.

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5. The “New BCT Response/Attachment Document” dialogue box will have opened. At
“Container” (see below), enter the CM9 record number corresponding to the record to have
been created for the complaint in CM9 (if, at Step 2, you copied the “CM9 Reference Number”
from the CRM and pasted in CM9, you need only paste again here). Click “OK”.

a. If the response was sent by email, your name will be pre-filled at “Author”. However, if
the response was instead provided over the phone and documented in a Word document,
for example, you will also need to indicate your name at “Author”.

6. The response has now been saved as a new BCT Response/Attachment Document within
the record to have been created for the complaint in CM9.

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6. Complaint is closed in the CRM

Responsibility: All staff with access to the CRM, and otherwise the Customer Relations Officer,
Programs
Having responded to a complaint, the next step is to close the complaint (i.e., close the interaction to
have been created for the complaint in the CRM). To do this:

1. Sign in to the CRM.

2. In the global search bar at the very top of page, enter the CRM interaction ID and press the
“Enter” key to search the CRM for the interaction to have been created for the complaint.
Searching for the CRM interaction ID will bring up only one result.
3. At the top right right of the Interaction page, click “Edit”.
4. Scroll down until you see “Comments”. Provide details of the response, even if only
“Response saved in CM9”.
5. Once all necessary updates have been made to the interaction, change the “Inquiry Status”
from “Open” or “In progress” to “Closed”.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the interaction and click “Save”.
7. The interaction is now closed.
Where the BCT has responded to a complaint and, having responded, the BCT is again contacted by
the complainant about their complaint but no further complaint is made:

1. Save the later contact in CM9.

a. If the complaint had related to a particular agreement/s, save the later contact as an
Electronic Document in the “Communication” Sub-Folder (sometimes called the
“Correspondence” Sub-Folder) within the relevant agreement Electronic Folder.
b. If the complaint had NOT related to any particular agreement/s, save this later contact as
an Electronic Document at ???

2. Having saved the later contact as a record in CM9, relate it to the record to have been
created for the complaint so that it is “Related to” (rather than saved alternatively within) the
record to have been created for the complaint. To do this:

a. Right click on the record to have been created for the later contact to display the action
menu and click on “Properties”.
b. Along the top of the “Properties” dialogue box, in the middle, click on the “Related
Records” tab.
c. In the white space above the line dividing the “Properties” dialogue box in two, right click
and click on “Add Related record” to open the “Add Related record” dialogue box.
d. Where you are asked to indicate “Relationship Type”, select “Related to” (see below) and,
when you come to “With record” at the bottom of the dialogue box, indicate the CM9
record number corresponding to the relevant complaint. Click “OK”.

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e. You will have been returned to the “Properties” dialogue box. Click “OK”.
f. The record to have been created for the later contact is now related to the record to have
been created for the complaint.

3. Record the later contact in the CRM, applying whatever of the “Inquiry Category” options is
most appropriate, (i.e., NOT the “Complaint” option, since no complaint has been made) (for
further guidance, refer to the BCT CRM Standard Operating Procedure at DOC19/738449 in
CM9);
4. Respond to the later contact as necessary and in accordance with ???

Where, on the other hand, the BCT has responded to a complaint and, having responded, the BCT is
again contacted by the complainant about their complaint and any further complaint is made:

1) Save the later complaint in CM9 as the orginal complaint had been saved, whether as an
Electronic Document in the “Communication” Sub-Folder (sometimes called the
“Correspondence” Sub-Folder) within the relevant agreement Electronic Folder and
alternatively within the Complaints Electronic Folder or in the Complaints Electronic Folder
only.
5. Having saved the later complaint as a record in CM9, relate it to the record to have been
created for the original complaint so that it is “Related to” (rather than saved alternatively
within) the record to have been created for the original complaint. To do this:

a. Right click on the record to have been created for the later contact to display the action
menu and click on “Properties”.
b. Along the top of the “Properties” dialogue box, in the middle, click on the “Related
Records” tab.
c. In the white space above the line dividing the “Properties” dialogue box in two, right click
and click on “Add Related record” to open the “Add Related record” dialogue box.

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d. Where you are asked to indicate “Relationship Type”, select “Related to” (see below) and,
when you come to “With record” at the bottom of the dialogue box, indicate the CM9
record number corresponding to the relevant complaint. Click “OK”.
e. You will have been returned to the “Properties” dialogue box. Click “OK”.
f. The record to have been created for the later contact is now related to the record to have
been created for the complaint.

2) Repeat the process as set out above from 3 Complaint is recorded in the CRM to 6
Complaint is closed in the CRM.

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7. Background information
What is a complaint?
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction made to or about us, our services, staff, or the
handling of a complaint where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally
required.
Who can complain to the BCT?
Anyone can complain to the BCT. Only if the complaint relates to the BCT, our services, staff or the
handling of a complaint, however, has a complaint been made for the purposes of the Complaint
Management Policy.
The Customer Service Charter describes the BCT’s many different customers. It is more likely that a
customer of the BCT may seek to complain to the BCT, though customers and non-customers alike
can complain to the BCT if they wish.
For the purposes of this SOP, any internal or inter-departmental grievance or correspondence is not
to be considered a complaint.
Who can receive complaints?
All staff can receive complaints.
How are complaints conveyed to the BCT?
The BCT can receive complaints in any of the following ways:

 via the BCT website

 via social media (the BCT maintains Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts)
 via email (to the BCT Mailbox or the BCT Info Mailbox or to a specific staff member’s email
address)
 over the phone (at the BCT’s direct line or via the Environment (“Enviro”) Line)
 via post (direct to the BCT or via the Minister’s Office)
 in person.
Whatever the means by which complaints are conveyed to the BCT, all complaints are to be recorded
in CM9 and in the CRM and corresponding responses with them.
What are my responsibilities if I receive a complaint?
If you receive a complaint, you are required to ensure it it appropriately recorded (in CM9 and in the
CRM) and responded to or forwarded to an appoprite BCT officer for response. save the complaint in
CM9 and record it in the CRM.
If you receive a complaint as a member of staff with access to the CRM, you are responsible for
recording the complaint as an “interaction” in the CRM (see “1.1 Complaint received directly by the
BCT”). You are otherwise responsible (should you receive a complaint as a member of staff without
access to the CRM) for documenting the complaint in an email to the BCT Info Mailbox at
info@bct.nsw.gov.au.
If the complaint is received by email or post, it need not be documented and can instead be forwarded
to the BCT Info Mailbox.
What happens when I’ve conveyed a complaint to the BCT Info Mailbox?

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Complaints conveyed by email to the BCT Info Mailbox will be recorded in the CRM by the BCT’s
Customer Relations Officer no later than two (2) business days after receipt. Confirmation that the
complaint has been recorded in the CRM will then be provided by the Customer Relations Officer in
an email to the referring member of staff, with the Customer Relations Officer’s email to quote the
CRM interaction ID that is generated when this has occurred.
If the complaint is unresolved when referred (and remaining unresolved when the complaint is
recorded in the CRM), the CRM interaction ID that is quoted in the Customer Service Officer’s email
shall in turn to be quoted in the BCT’s response to the complainant. It is otherwise provided for the
information of the referring member of staff and in case of any further communication with the
complainant about their complaint, all of which is to be recorded in the CRM.
Who can respond to a complaint?
All staff are empowered under the Policy to resolve complaints promptly and without unnecessary
formality. Before responding to any complaint, however, staff are asked to consider if they are best
equipped to respond. The member of staff who is best equipped to respond shall provide the
response.
If the complaint requires a formal response, the Manager with responsibility for that which the
complaint concerns shall provide the response. If the complaint is also complex or politically sensitive,
the Director to whom that Manager reports shall instead provide the response.
I’ve responded to a complaint; what do I do now?
If you have responded to a complaint, you must next save the response in CM9 and ensure it is
recorded it in the CRM.
As a member of staff with access to the CRM, you are responsible for recording the response in the
CRM yourself (see “Error: Reference source not found”).
If you are a member of staff without access to the CRM, you are responsible for documenting the
response in an email (or forwarding the response) to the BCT Info Mailbox so that it may be recorded
in the CRM by the Customer Service Officer no later than two (2) business days following.
How do I handle any ongoing communication after I’ve responded to a complaint?
If, after you have responded to a complaint, you should again hear from the complainant about their
complaint, you must ensure that this is also to be saved in CM9 and recorded in the CRM, either by
yourself or the Customer Relations Officer if you do not have CRM access.
Where no further complaint is made in any later communication received from a complainant, the
communication is to be recorded as a new interaction in the CRM and the appropriate “Inquiry
Category” applied in doing so (being an “Inquiry Catgeory” other than “Complaint”).
If any further complaint is made in any later communication received from a complainant, the
communication is to be saved in CM9 and recorded in the CRM as a new interaction.
Why are complaints saved in CM9?

A complaint is saved in CM9 in accordance with record management requirements. A complaint is a

record and must be stored in CM9 with an adequate retention period and access controls.
Complaints of a confidential or contentious nature can then be managed accordingly without creating
unnecessary risk for the BCT.
Why are complaints recorded in the CRM?

Complaints are recorded in the CRM to assist in managing and tracking the status of complaints to
ensure that they are resolved quickly and thoroughly.
With all complaints centrally recorded in the CRM, the BCT can also generate reporting out of the
CRM to acquit its reporting obligations under the Act and the Regulation (see at “Error: Reference
source not found” above) and better understand where it might improve.

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8. Appendix 1 – Acknowledgement template letter

Dear <Salutation> <Complainant surname>,

Thank you for contacting the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT).

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your complaint. The BCT will formally respond to your complaint
within ten (10) working days.

Sincerely,

The BCT team

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