Complaints and compliments
To help protect the Australian community, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) works with Australian police agencies to deliver the National Police Checking Service (NPCS). We manage and provide the National Police Checking Service Support System (NSS), the national IT system that allows Australia’s police agencies to process Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks and share information. We also accredit organisations to access the Service, on behalf of individuals and/or other organisations.
If you think we are doing a good job or have had a positive experience, we would love to hear about it. Likewise, if you have ideas about how we can improve the Service, or you wish to make a complaint, we appreciate your feedback and will strive to make appropriate improvements.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman Better Practice Guide for Complaints Handling outlines how government bodies should deal with complaints as part of an environment of continuous improvement. We are dedicated to the continuous improvement of the Service and take all complaints seriously.
The ACIC follows the Ombudsman’s recommended process when handling complaints to:
- acknowledge complaints promptly
- assign and assess complaints as a priority
- investigate and address factual issues, including considering options for resolution
- respond to complainants in a clear and informative manner
- provide an internal and external review process when a complainant is unhappy with the result
- consider and act upon issues identified through the complaints process.
We respect your right to privacy. Your personal information, including check results, will only be viewed for the purposes of managing and addressing the complaint lodged. If the complaint does not concern your personal information, it will not be viewed.
We will consider and act on any issues identified during the complaints process. However, a complaint may not result in any action when the investigation is complete. The legislative environment we operate in is complex and, as such, a complainant may feel aggrieved due to the federated nature of the Service. The ACIC is unable to change state, territory or federal laws.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of the ACIC complaint handling process, you have the right for your investigation to be reviewed by the ACIC. A different ACIC staff member, who was not involved in the original investigation, will conduct the review.
If you are still dissatisfied, you can approach the Commonwealth Ombudsman, who can impartially assist in resolving the complaint.
Please provide as much information as possible when submitting a compliment or complaint.
