Housing Australia is committed to improving our customer experience. We appreciate that complaints can give us important insights into how we might do things better. If you’re unsatisfied with our services, we’d like to hear about it and your thoughts on how we might fix it.
Anyone can make a complaint, including our staff and customers or others concerned with, or
affected by, our services or activities.
This Policy applies to all officeholders, employees, consultants, contractors and secondees of Housing Australia (Personnel)
This policy ensures all complaints are handled fairly, promptly, and consistently to resolve issues and improve our services.
- Provide a clear and accessible process for submitting complaints
- Ensure timely acknowledgment and investigation of all complaints
- Maintain confidentiality and treat all parties with respect
- Identify opportunities for service and operational improvements
- Demonstrate accountability and commitment to stakeholder satisfaction
- Prevent recurrence of issues through appropriate corrective action
| Term | Definition |
| Business Day | Any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in NSW, Australia. |
| Commonwealth Ombudsman | The independent statutory office that investigates complaints about Australian Government agencies and their service delivery |
| Complaint | An expression of dissatisfaction with Housing Australia’s services, decisions, actions, or staff conduct from any person. |
| Complainant | Any person, organisation, or representative who submits a complaint to Housing Australia. |
| Complex Circumstances | Situations requiring extended investigation time due to factors such as multiple parties involved, technical complexity, need for expert consultation, or coordination with external organisations. |
| Internal Review | A secondary assessment of a complaint and its handling conducted when a complainant remains unsatisfied with the initial response. |
| Third party | Any individual, organisation, or entity external to Housing Australia that may be involved in or relevant to a complaint investigation. |
Principles that underpin the purpose and objectives of this Policy:
- Accessibility - We provide multiple, straightforward channels for submitting complaints and
offer assistance to those who need help in making a complaint. - Timeliness - We acknowledge complaints promptly within two business days and aim to
resolve them within ten business days, keeping complainants informed of any delays. - Fairness and impartiality - All complaints are treated objectively without bias,
discrimination, or disadvantage to the complainant, regardless of the nature of their concern. - Transparency - We communicate clearly about our complaints process, timeframes, and
outcomes while maintaining appropriate confidentiality protections. - Confidentiality and privacy - Personal information is protected in accordance with our
Privacy Policy, and complainant identity is kept confidential when requested, subject to legal
obligations. - No cost or retaliation - Complaints are handled free of charge, and no person will face
discrimination or adverse treatment for raising a complaint. - Continuous improvement - We use complaint insights to identify systemic issues and
opportunities to enhance our services and operations. - Accountability - Clear roles and responsibilities are established for complaint handling, with
appropriate oversight through our governance structure. - Proportionate response - Our investigation and response efforts are appropriate to the
complexity and significance of each complaint. - Alternative resolution - We encourage initial resolution through direct channels where
appropriate, particularly for Home Guarantee Scheme participants, while maintaining access
to formal complaint processes.
You can make a complaint by either:
- Email to: complaints@housingaustralia.gov.au
- Writing to: Attention: Chief Operating Officer, Housing Australia Level 23, 420 George St. Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia
Please use one of the methods above to tell us about your complaint so that the details of the complaint are clear and complete.
If you need help making a complaint or are unable to make it using one of the methods above, please speak with a Housing Australia staff member by phoning+61 (0) 1800 549 767 and select the lodge a complaints option
Although not required, it will help us respond if you can provide:
- your name and contact details
- your complaint and any effort made to resolve it
- whether you have had any previous contact with us on this or similar issues; and
- the outcome you would like.
We encourage participants of and brokers who offer the Home Guarantee Scheme to speak to their lending institution in the first instance to help resolve any issue. Home Guarantee Scheme participating lenders and service providers should contact their relationship manager in the first instance. If your issue cannot be resolved and you would like to make a complaint (or if you otherwise prefer to take this course of action at first instance), you can do so in the way set out above.
Housing Australia aims to acknowledge receipt of a complaint within two business days, and to respond to it within ten business days.
If there are complex circumstances, or if we need to liaise with third parties, our response may take more time. In these circumstances, we will keep you updated regarding when you can expect to receive a reply. We may also ask you to provide further detail(s) about your complaint to help us better address your concerns.
Complaints are reported to the Housing Australia Executive Risk and Compliance Committee. Our Chief Operating Officer is responsible for managing this policy. This policy is subject to review in accordance with the Housing Australia Risk Management Framework.
Your personal information disclosed to us as part of your complaint will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available on the Housing Australia website.
If a complaint is being made by you (including as a campaign coordinator or aggregator system) on behalf of another party, we may require evidence of your authority and appropriate privacy law consents.
We may also provide a standard response to a group of complainants where the nature of the complaint is substantively the same for all complainants in the group (including by way of a single response to the coordinating party or system, where responding to individual complaints is not reasonably practicable).
You can request that your complaint and identity (or the identity of a person you are representing) be kept confidential. We will respect such requests subject however to any obligation or authorisation that requires us to disclose information under an applicable law or regulation, or to any governmental body.
Please note that our ability to investigate your complaint may be limited if we cannot contact you to clarify or seek further information. Please also note that we are subject to legislative and other confidentiality provisions that may limit our ability to provide information to you about third parties.
You will not be discriminated against because you have made a complaint.
You will not be charged a fee for making a complaint.
This policy does not apply to recruitment or employment related complaints. These will be referred to the Housing Australia People and Culture team for consideration.
If you are not satisfied with our response, or the way in which we have handled your complaint, you can write to complaints@housingaustralia.gov.au requesting further internal review.
You are also entitled to refer your concerns to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.