Complaints and Appeals Procedure

Our Complaints and Appeals Procedure Policy

At Compass we believe it is important to be transparent and to behave with integrity at all times.

Purpose & Our Commitment
The purpose of this procedure is to describe the process that all stakeholders may initiate to lodge a complaint or an appeal with Compass Assurance Services Pty Ltd (CAS). 

CAS is committed to continually improving our service and see feedback as a key input into this process. We encourage feedback so that we may resolve your concern in a constructive and timely manner and so that we may improve our business. 

We take all complaints and appeal seriously and commit to resourcing the complaints resolution process in an appropriate manner. We take full responsibility for decisions related to complaints and appeals. We recognise that clients and stakeholders have the right to provide feedback or make a complaint. We commit to dealing with all complaints and appeals fairly and without prejudice at all times ensure confidentiality is maintained. 

We commit to managing complaints and appeals in a timely manner and providing ongoing feedback throughout the complaint resolution process. CAS aims to have every complaint and appeal resolved within a 3-month period from lodgement. 

The Complaints and Appeal Process
An appeal is an application for reversal of a decision. An appeal may be lodged with regard to an audit finding such as a non-conformance or a certification decision such as to grant, suspend or withdraw a certificate.  

A complaint is a statement that something is unacceptable or unsatisfactory. 

1. Lodging A Complaint or an Appeal
Appeals or complaints must in the first instance be lodged directly with Compass. These can be submitted by emailing the General Manager care of [email protected] or contacting 1300 495 855. 

a. Initial Handling
All complaints and appeals relating to CAS or their clients or employees are scanned for validity and are then lodged in our corrective action database and given a unique corrective action number, responsible person, date of lodgement and target resolution date. A letter confirming the corrective action number and acknowledging receipt of the complaint are sent to the initiator within 5 working days.

2. Resolution Process
A member of the Leadership Team is responsible for managing the resolution process. This person will be someone who is competent, independent and has not been involved in the client specific audit or certification decision.  

The responsible person will analyse the complaint, taking into consideration other complaints and the overall management system of the client and determine a cause. An action plan will then be developed to correct the current issue and for corrective action. 

If the complaint in question refers to a certified client, then the responsible person will notify the client at an appropriate time. 

The action plan will be approved by the General Manager and then actioned as soon as is reasonably practicable. 

The responsible person may nominate action owners but is ultimately responsible for the resolution process. 

Once the action plan has been deployed and completed a review is undertaken by a person not involved in the complaint to ensure the corrective actions were effective. Written confirmation of the actions taken and the status of the resolution will be sent to the initiator, and the complaint will be closed. 

CAS shall only on the basis of consultation with its client and the complainant whether and to what extent, the subject of the complaint and its resolution shall be made public. 

If the complaint has not been resolved within the nominated time frame, the complainant may escalate the complaint to the General Manager for immediate review.

3. Tracking Process
Initiators may contact CAS care of [email protected] or by phone on 1300 495 855 stating their name, address and the unique corrective action number.  

The General Manager reviews all complaints and appeals. These are also reported monthly to the Kiwa Quality Lead – Australia and New Zealand.

4. Formal Review
All complaints and appeals are reviewed by the Leadership Team during the annual management review meeting.

5. Escalation
If unhappy with the outcome of the review of your complaint and the decisions made by CAS, then initiators have a right to make a formal complaint to JASANZ by accessing the link: Contact us • JASANZ.  

All complaints or appeals unresolved within 3 months of our target resolution date are brought to the attention of JASANZ. 

The following information will be forwarded to JASANZ:

• Written details of the original complaint
• Records of the review of the complaint 
• Documented response to the complainant 
• Any other correspondence with the complainant