Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated
CONFLICT AND COMPLAINTS RESOLUTION POLICY

1 Background

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated recognises its legal responsibilities in regard to harassment, discrimination, moral obligations in ensuring appropriate behaviour and by providing a safe sporting environment.

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated Conflict and Complaints Resolution Policy aims to provide individuals with a course of action should they feel their rights are being denied.

2 Conflict and Complaints

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated aims to provide a confidential and trustworthy procedure for any conflict or complaint to be investigated based on the principles of natural justice. Any person (the complainant) may report a complaint about a person or Member Group bound by this policy if they feel they have been discriminated against, harassed, bullied or there has been any other breach of any Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated Policies

A complaint should be reported to the Member Groups Head Coach, Member Group Child Safe Officer, Member Groups Chairperson, President of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated or any Executive Officer on the Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated Board of Management.  Refer Sample Complaint Reporting form: Attachment 1

3 Vexatious Complaints & Victimisation

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated aims to ensure our complaints procedure has integrity and is free of unfair repercussions or victimisation. If at any point in the complaint process, the Member Groups Head Coach, Member Group Child Safe Officer, Member Groups Chairperson, The President of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated or any Executive Officer on the Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated Board of Management considers that a complainant has knowingly made an untrue complaint or the complaint is vexatious or malicious, the matter may be referred to the Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated Board of Management for appropriate action which may include disciplinary action against the complainant.

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated will take all the necessary steps in ensuring that people involved in a complaint are not victimised by anyone for coming forward with a complaint or for helping to rectify the issue. Disciplinary measures will be imposed on anyone who victimises another person for making such a complaint.

4 Mediation

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated will investigate the complaints with the minimum of fuss wherever possible and in many cases complaints can be rectified by agreement between the people involved with no disciplinary action necessary. The people involved in a formal complaint, the complainant and the person complained about (respondent) may seek the assistance of a neutral third person to act as a mediator (a Child Safe Officer, the President of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated or the Public Officer of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated) but lawyers are not able to negotiate on behalf of the complainant and/or respondent.

Mediation may occur either before or after an investigation of a complaint. If a complainant wishes to try and resolve the complaint with the assistance of a mediator, the nominated mediator will, in consultation with the complainant, arrange for a meeting to be held.

5 Responding to Complaints

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated will undertake to investigate any conflict or complaint promptly, seriously, sensitively and confidentially and at any stage, it is the prerogative of the complainant to proceed with, or dissolve a complaint.

Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated takes all complaints seriously. We will handle complaints based on the principles of procedural fairness and ensure :

  • All complaints will be taken seriously;
  • The person about whom the complaint is made will be given full details of what is being alleged against them and have the opportunity to respond to those allegations;
  • Irrelevant matters will not be taken into account;
  • Decisions will be unbiased; and
  • Any penalties imposed will be reasonable.

If the complaint relates to suspected child abuse, sexual assault or other criminal activity, then Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated may need to report the behaviour to the police and /or relevant government authority.

6 Complaint Handling Process

When a complaint is received by Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated, the person receiving the complaint (e.g. Member Group Chairperson, Child Safe Officer, President, Vice President or Secretary of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated) will:

  • listen carefully and ask questions to understand the nature and extent of the concern;
  • ask the complainant how they would like their concern to be resolved and if they need any support;
  • explain the different options available to help resolve the complainant’s concern;
  • inform the relevant government authorities and /or police, if required by law to do so; and
  • where possible and appropriate maintain confidentiality but not necessarily anonymity.

Once the complainant decides on their preferred option for resolution, Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated will assist, where appropriate and necessary, with the resolution process. This may involve:

  • encouraging the complainant to talk to the person being complained about;
  • bringing all the people involved in the complaint together to talk objectively through the problem (this could include external mediation);
  • gathering more information (e.g. from other people that may have seen the behaviour);
  • seeking advice from our district, regional, state and/or national body or from an external agency (e.g. State Body MPIO, State Department of Sport or Anti-discrimination Agency);
  • convene a disciplinary tribunal to hear the complaint, where our constituent documents, rules and by laws allow;
  • referring the complaint to Member Groups own affiliated state body association and/or;
  • referring the complainant to an external agency such as a Community Mediation Centre, Police or Anti-discrimination Agency.

In situations where a complaint is referred to Member Groups own affiliated state body and an investigation is conducted, Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated will:

  • cooperate fully with the investigation;
  • where applicable, ensure the complainant is not placed in an unsupervised situation with the respondent(s); and
  • act on Member Groups own affiliated state body association’s recommendations.

At any stage of the process, a person can seek advice from an anti-discrimination commission or other external agency and. If the matter is within their jurisdiction, may lodge a complaint with the anti-discrimination commission or other external agency.

Approved by Board of Management of Seacliff Community Recreation Association Incorporated August 2013
Reviewed April 2016, May 2019, September 2021