Skip to main content

What are you looking for?

Enter keywords to search across resources, guides, training, tools, and more.

Create an account for suggestions personalised to you and your organisation

Factsheets
1 minute read

Complaints Handling Factsheet

Meeting National Standards and Strategy Seal Meeting National Standards and Strategy What's this?

Introduction

Complaints are a fact of life for most charities, and how you deal with them is crucial. It's about having a clear process for addressing concerns raised by anyone involved with your organisation, from staff and volunteers to service users and donors.

Summary

Effective complaints handling can:

  • Improve your services and programs

  • Boost your reputation and community standing

  • Increase support from existing and potential donors

  • Save money by preventing future problems

It's also a chance to learn and improve your practices, showcasing good governance. Poor complaints handling can damage your reputation and finances.

Benefits for Volunteer Organisations & Managers

  • The guide, model policy and procedure, provides a step-by-step approach to handling complaints, making it easier for volunteer managers to address issues.

  • A fair complaints process fosters trust and shows volunteers their concerns are valued.

  • Effective complaints handling builds public confidence in your charity's work, attracting more volunteers and supporters.


Downloads and sources

More about the author

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the national regulator of charities.

Contribute to the Gateway


More like this

Weblinks

International Volunteer Manager’s Day (IVMDay)

Celebrated annually on November 5, International Volunteer Managers' Day (IVMDay) is an annual event dedicated to recognising the important work of Volunteer Engagement Professionals.
1 minute read
International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMDay)
General
e-learning

Understanding Disability

This article, guides and online courses offer information on disability awareness for volunteers and volunteer managers, promoting inclusive volunteer environments.
1 minute read
The Knowledge Base, The Centre for Volunteering, People with Disability Australia
Disability, General
Information

Background checks

This resource offers detailed guidance on various screening checks, including Working with Children Checks, Police Checks, NDIS Worker Screening Checks, and other types of checks. It also provides information on child safety laws.
1 minute read
Not-For-Profit Law
General
Rosterfy
Tech

Rosterfy

Rosterfy is an end-to-end volunteer management software solution, that helps organisations streamline their volunteer management and engagement. Rosterfy offers automated solutions to manage volunteers efficiently.
Volunteer database Recruitment Rostering / scheduling Onboarding / training Volunteer performance/recognition Communication / engagement Task management Compliance Reporting Resource management Social media Event management
Better Impact
Tech

Better Impact

Better Impact offers a comprehensive software solution for volunteer program management, to simplify administrative tasks and enhance volunteer engagement across every stage of the volunteer lifecycle.
Volunteer database Recruitment Rostering / scheduling Onboarding / training Volunteer performance/recognition Communication / engagement Compliance Reporting Social media Donations
VIKTOR
Tech

VIKTOR

VIKTOR is a volunteer recruitment system designed to run a referral service for volunteers. It allows you to create and advertise volunteer roles, enter volunteers and match them to roles offered by your members.
Volunteer database Recruitment Reporting
scheduled

The Tuff Stuff: Volunteer Performance Counselling

While managing volunteers is usually a rewarding task, there can be a nasty side to volunteer management: performance counselling. When a volunteer isn’t performing to the best of their ability, or worse - acting in a negative way — then performance counselling is in order.
Volunteering Victoria
Free
scheduled

Plain and Easy English Language Part 1 (24 July 2025)

People with intellectual and cognitive disability are often overlooked in the pursuit of website accessibility. This 2 part workshop, facilitated by The Centre for Accessibility Australia, will provide tools in optimising online content for readability to significantly improve access to information.
Volunteering Victoria
Free
scheduled

National Standards Deep Dive: Standard 8

Take a deep dive into Standard 8 of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement
The Centre for Volunteering
Free