Complaints
The Kimberley Land Council always does its best to act in a fair and appropriate way. We do understand that from time to time some people may be unhappy with a decision we make, with some of the things we do or don’t do, and with the way our staff behave.
Our members and the public have the right to make a complaint about any of these things, and we will do our best to suitably respond to and resolve the issue.
If our staff are unable to assist you in settling your complaint directly, it will go to our Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Board to review.
What we ask you to do
First of all, speak to our staff or their managers to see if the problem can be resolved quickly and easily.
If that doesn’t work, put your complaint in writing to the KLC Chairman. That way we can keep a record of your complaint, and make sure it is dealt with properly.
Different complaints
There are two separate types of complaints:
complaints about a decision of the Grants Committee
complaints about other decisions or actions of the KLC or its staff
Complaints about the decisions of the Grants Committee
The KLC has a Grants Committee that assesses new applications for assistance with Native Title Claims. The Grants Committee is made up of members of the KLC Board, and looks at each application and makes a decision about supporting it.
If the Grants Committee rejects an application for assistance, the KLC gives clear written reasons for that decision, and lets the applicants know about their right to have the decision reviewed.
The applicants can ask (in writing) to have the decision looked at again by the KLC’s Review Committee. The Review Committee is made up of KLC Chairperson and four Board Members (these can’t be people who were on the original Grants Committee).
The Review Committee will look at a number of things to see if the Grants Committee made a fair and proper decision.
If the applicants are still not happy, they can ask to have the way the decision was made looked at under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act, 1977 (ADJR), and also under s203FB of the Native Title Act. The KLC will tell applicants how to ask for these extra reviews.
Steps in Grants Committee process
An application is made to KLC Grants Committee for assistance with a Native Title claim.
The Grant Committee looks at the application, and makes a decision about whether or not to support it.
KLC lets the applicant know, in writing, about the reasons for that decision.
KLC lets the applicants know about their rights to have the decision reviewed, and how to make that happen.
If the applicant is not happy with the decision, they ask in writing, for the KLC to have another look at the decision.
The KLC’s Review Committee has another look, to see if the Grants Committee made a fair and proper decision.
The KLC lets the applicant know about the decision of the Review Committee.
The KLC lets the applicants know about their rights to have the whole process reviewed under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act, 1977, and s203FB of the Native Title Act, and how to make that happen.
The process is reviewed externally under those Acts.
Complaints abouit other activities of the KLC
The KLC has a policy for dealing with complaints from members and the public about other decisions or actions of the KLC or its staff.
General areas of complaint may be regarding:
a decision of the KLC Executive Director
a decision of the Executive Committee or the sub-Committee
a decision made by someone that the Executive Committee has given authority to
any action or behavior of a member of KLC staff
Steps in filing a complaint
Talk to the KLC Board members, Chief Executive Officer, staff, or their managers to see if the problem can be resolved quickly and easily.
If the issue has not been resolved, put the complaint in writing to the Chief Executive Officer. The KLC will keep a record of the complaint, and follow through with an investigation.
The relevant people within the KLC (Chairman, Board, Chief Executive Officer, or senior managers) will look into the complaint. If appropriate, action will be taken to respond to the complaint.
The KLC will write to the person making the complaint, and explain how it was investigated, and what action was taken.
You can also contact the KLC directly below and your complaint will be directed to the appropriate staff member.