I want to bring up for discussion the complaint handling procedures used by our Government because they are not fair. They allow for bias, tampering, manipulation and discrimination and they allow those responsible to investigate themselves and close the complaints.

My family have an ongoing complaints with the Department of Education. For over 7 years my family have been fighting to have our numerous and serious allegations investigated. Our complaints include allegations of systematic bias, victimisation, neglect, manipulation of school applications and test scores and psychological and emotional bullying of our four children by DET staff and a conspiracy to cover up. Policy and procedure require that these types of allegations be formally investigated but there appears to be no law or no administrative way to force a Government Department to properly or fairly investigate formal allegations made against them despite Policy and Procedure requiring that they be investigated. It appears that Public Servants can do what they want.

Recently I sent my families complaint to the serious misconduct Department of the DET. In the complaint I challenged the integrity of the previous assessments of the matter as the assessments were undertaken by persons involved in the complaint who of course made the recommendation not to investigate and just close the complaint....and the manager of that Unit sent the complaint back saying that he had been advised that the matter had been previously assessed. Nobody wants to investigate the matter because then the Department will have to face the fact I have been right all along and they have people on the payroll who are bullies and mean and who have been allowed to years to fail in their duty of care to the children.

What is frightening is that the General Public allow them to do it!

Education - Keeping them Honest
http://www.jolandachallita.typepad.com/
Our children deserve better

without reading all your web site to find out, is this a spat with a State education dept or Federal [or both]?

Divorce Doctor. Essentially my family’s complaints are against the State Labor Government but they include the Federal Government and even the Opposition as at the end of the day they all use the same process and they have all assisted in covering the matter up by ignoring my families please for help and this has resulted in years of further victimisation aimed at my children and family.

No Minister will see my family in relation to the matter despite the allegations involving neglect, discrimination and psychological abuse of children. Nobody will actually investigate the complaints. Everybody just asks those responsible who tell them lies and on the basis of lies the matter is said to have been closed - yet the DET have presented the complaints as being investigated and those alleged to be responsible cleared of any misconduct when we have clear evidence that says (their own file notes/emails) that there has not been an investigation. It seems that we have no rights and procedural fairness and natural justice doesn't exist for targets or victims of bullying and/or crime. The whole process is set up to protect Government Employees who fail in their duty of care and bully and/or abuse or neglect children.

Most government or government-linked 'complaints bodies' are as biased towards Joe Public.

The Police Complaints Authority is a pet hate for me, due to the way they twisted a complaint I made as the police officer involved lied and had a public servant lie for him to the extent that I was threatened with prison for making a 'false complaint'.

The Ombudsman (State and Federal) is another body that acts against public interest.

And forget about asking your local MP for help when the above organisations are screwing with you.

Totalitarianism is almost here.

to do a combined answer, a Ministerial to local MP can indeed do the trick but generally needs to be backed up by a threat [at least] for court action. At least for me it worked and Howard was forced to backbench both Patterson and Vale from their Portfolios. But like you I too got targeted, so you need to have a good measure of resiliance

in your case you have access to antidiscrimination etc action via Federal Magistrate Court [for federal side]

but Howard had a "watertight" [or firetight?] dynasty set up as firewalls with a mass of lawyers in disguised unemployment in the quangos you mention such as Ombudsman, so it was pointless even trying

for an example on how this was done please see my free extract The Privacy Chapter at http://www.ablokesguide.com to get some insight

in the Palmer case, the judge actually made a false judgment to say a person must first goto the Privacy Commissioner [firewall], where like your experiences it just gets truncated

You are right AP and DD. Investigatory bodies and the complaint handling processes used by our Government are firewalls designed to stop anything impacting on the reputation of the Government. It actually works to discredit the complainant as people believe that if the complaint had merits and there was evidence that they would investigate. They don't realise that these people do what they want.

We made a formal complaint about the Ombudsman to the Office of the Ombudsman and Police Integrity Commission. We had already previously complained about the Ombudsman and the way he has mishandled our families complaints. This time we were complaining about the Ombudsman reviewing our matter twice, despite us making a formal complaint about him and advising the Ombudsman's Office that we had been denied procedural fairness and natural justice by Mr. Bruce Barbour in the handling of our complaints and asking that he not be permitted to conduct the second review.

The so called 'watchdogs' all say that nobody can do anything and that Legislation prohibits them from asking questions about this type of thing. No human should have that much unfettered unquestionable power so as to be able to ignore and close complaints about neglect and abuse of children.

The Ombudsman also used the lack of funding and resources line in relation to the failure to properly deal with the complaint and he also has discretion that he uses and he can just agree to close complaints about neglect and/or child abuse and nobody can question or challenge his decisions......With Child Protection there should be no discretion. All allegations should be investigated so that the abuse can stop.

I have evidence that legitimate allegations against public servants are being closed and permitted to be covered up at the higher levels and that includes the Ombudsman. This is scary given that he is in charge of Child Protection.

If I have to do time over this I will......they have made us resilient and now we want what is fair and right and that includes justice and protection for children.

There are other ways but, as I don't know who reads these comments, I prefer not to say. Let's just settle for step 1 - find out the home address of who is mishandling your complaint.

Step 2 worked for me a couple of times.

Well Austin Powers - unfortunately for me I am a good person and I like to set good examples for my kids so whilst the thought of what you say is appealing and it would probably mean that I would get protection and rights especially if I get caught and even an avenue to hear my families case, I cannot bring myself to behave that way as then I would just like one of them.

But hey, there have been days when the anguish and despair that my husband and I have felt watching our children's body react physically to being victimised, neglected, bullied, humiliated and vilified in front of their peers has been such that on any given day anything is possible. A parent can only take so much psychological abuse, bullying and educational neglect directed at their children.

Anyway I am of to the ADT tomorrow where I will continue to fight. My plan is the Supreme Court next and if that fails I propose to hold public investigations myself in the hope of flushing these people out. The DET will not hear the end of me until they do the right thing of that I have given them my word and I always stand by my word.

Good luck, Jolanda.

I also think that I am a good person, but I believe we should fight fire with fire.

Politicians and officials like to threaten and bully Joe Public and use devious underhand methods, so why shouldn't we do the same?

If it was my children, I wouldn't hesitate.

Thanks Austin Powerless. Thing is that at the moment I do not feel completely trapped as I still feel I have avenues to fight. If they close those doors on me I cannot guarantee that I will not loose it. After 7 years of psychological abuse and neglect and the total ignoring of my families pleas for help and complaints I could snap and I wouldn't turn in on me, I would focus on them....It really makes you understand how terrorism is born.

Yes, Jolanda, they seem to have some perverse pleasure in pushing people to breaking point, then play victim when they get what's coming to them.

I hope your other avenues work out.