BackThe Commonwealth Ombudsman hosted its annual complaint handling forum entirely online for the first time in May 2021. The forum’s theme was - harnessing the value of complaints. Over 400 participants from across Australia and the Pacific, from the public service and industry sectors, engaged with complaint handling experts through a series of four digital events.
The forum included:
- keynote presentations from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and Australia Post;
- a workshop on managing unreasonable complainant persistence, run by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and;
- a panel discussion with representatives from private sector organisations and government agencies, facilitated by the Deputy Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Sessions were run over a two-week period and held in the middle of the day, which broadened the number of people who could participate. The structure of the forum and the content of the sessions were popular with participants.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman has facilitated further webinars since the forum and is embracing online platforms for training and engagement. A recording of the workshop from the forum is available here.
Source: Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia
