Victorian Inspectorate service charter

This is what you can expect when you make a complaint to us about another agency. We will:

assess complaints in our jurisdiction
provide reasons for outcome decisions
provide a free, fair and independent service
protect your privacy as required by law
act in line with our values of integrity, courage, collaboration, dedication, respect and human rights.

What you can complain about

We can consider complaints about the conduct of the following public bodies or public offices:

Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and IBAC personnel
Victorian Ombudsman officers
Victorian Auditor-General’s Office officers
Chief Examiner and Examiners
Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner officers
Victoria’s Office of the Special Investigator or OSI officers.

You can complain about some aspects of how a body or an officer performed their role. The complaint may be that the public body or public officer acted in a way that was:

against the law
unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory
based on ‘improper’ motives
an abuse of power
otherwise improper.

You may want to submit a complaint to us through a Public Interest Disclosure (PID) if your complaint is about improper conduct or detrimental action.

Look at our PID guidelines to learn more about the protections you will receive and who you can make a PID about. You can make a PID orally or by using our online PID form.

Unless you are making a PID, we do not handle any complaints about:

the Wage Inspectorate
local government
Victoria Police
universities and TAFEs
private legal practitioners.

If you have a complaint about any of the above, look at 'complaints we cannot investigate' on our make a complaint page.

Our commitment

We are committed to:

providing a free, independent and accessible service
acknowledging and progressing complaints as quickly as we can
providing reasons for our decisions
treating you and your complaint fairly, and with respect and professionalism
respecting and protecting human rights and your privacy
promoting accountability for decisions and improving the integrity system.

When you make a complaint we will:

acknowledge and assess your complaint as quickly as possible
consider whether we are the right place for your complaint
consider whether the complaint should be handled as a PID unless you have indicated that it is not a PID
aim to understand the outcome you are seeking and explain whether the VI has the power to achieve that outcome.
make enquiries to get relevant information or documents about your complaint
review how to address your complaint, including whether it needs to be formally investigated
provide formal or informal feedback to the body you complained about, if appropriate
keep you informed about the progress and outcome of your complaint.

What you can expect from us

You can expect to be treated with professionalism, fairly and with respect. When you submit a complaint to us, we weigh up 5 questions:

Is the complaint in our jurisdiction?
How urgent and serious is the complaint?
Do we need more information to understand and assess your complaint?
Is there enough evidence to support the complaint?
What action can we take to improve future conduct?

Please note, we cannot overturn the decision of another body or tell them to change a decision.

Keeping you informed

To keep you informed we aim to:

acknowledge that we have received your complaint within 5 business days
update you about your complaint every 4 weeks.

The frequency of communication and speed of processing your complaint depends on many factors, including the nature of the complaint, the issues involved and whether it is a PID.

How you can help us

You can help us process your complaint quickly and efficiently by:

checking whether we can deal with your complaint
considering whether you are making your complaint as a Public Interest Disclosure, and if so, using our online PID form
making your complaint in writing, via our online complaint form or submitting your complaint by post
providing as much information as possible about your complaint, including specific information that will help us understand the facts and circumstances of the complaint and who you are complaining about
being clear about the outcome you seek
treating us with the same respect as we will provide to you. If your behaviour impacts our ability to assess your complaint, we may not be able to proceed.