2 thoughts on “Draft Complaints Management Policy”

1. The feedback for a different mix of members to help with complaints is feasible as the complaints process consumes much of the boards time and a team assisting is good as they can interview and gather evidence to bring back to the board for a decision.

   The suggestion that the majority of Goolawah members did not vote for the current Dispute Resolution and the Complaints policy is delusional, as Disputes management is a part of the Rules and the Complaint policy only exist through agreement at a General Meeting.

   It is also obvious, that you have misread the Complaints Management Policy and Procedure 20.1.2018 as section 2 clearly states that the board is responsible for managing the process. The Complaints management team were included to assist the board.

   The rest of the message appears to be a reiteration of previous correspondence from many years ago where the Fitzpatricks defamed other members of the community including the board and were notified of the breach by the community on 16 Nov 2020 through the Complaints Management process.

   It is a shame that we have members in the community who hang onto grievances when a decision by the community does not go their way.

   Reply

2. Feedback re Rule Breaches, Complaints and Disputes Policy Draft.
   Point 2. The Board’s management of Rule Breaches
   We believe trusted members of the community, with one trusted Director, should form a complaints committee and another group of trusted members should continue to develop the draft policy ready for voting on by the whole community as per the concept of living in a Cooperative.
   The community never voted for the Board to manage the complaints process and, it is the members of the community who are responsible for deciding on the policy and who manages it. Without consultation, the Board took control of the complaints process and used it to target members who spoke out against illegal and inappropriate behaviour by Board members and members of their inner circle.
   Goolawah Board members do not understand their role as a Director of a Cooperative, instead they are acting as they are the Board of a corporation and are putting Goolawah at a legal risk as explained to us by a Cooperative Law legal expert. The Directors are seeking more power over members with this draft policy, and it provides the opportunity for Directors to continue to manipulate the outcome of disputes.
   Most complaints are about the Directors, and it is not appropriate they are deciding whether the complaints submitted against them are legitimate or not. Four of the current Directors have breached Goolawah Rules, Cooperative Law and bought Goolawah into disrepute. They have had serious complaints submitted against them (including one involving the police) then used their positions as Directors to reject the complaints.
   Directors have also used their position to reject serious complaints submitted against members of their inner circle and have targeted members, including two members who submitted serious complaints against two Directors, by forcing the members who submitted the complaints into mediation on their own. There were no consequences for the Directors who acted illegally.
   We personally experienced the mismanagement of the complaints process by four Board members when they targeted us on behalf of other members (their friends who submitted complained about us) when we sent an email with feedback on the membership process. The four Board members:
   • DID NOT follow the Goolawah complaints process
   • emailed the community saying there were complaints submitted against us but did not tell us, we found out when we read the email
   • refused to give any details to us about the complaints including who submitted them. The solicitor confirmed it was illegal to do this
   • refused our request to speak with the other three Board members
   • deliberately misled the community when they said we refused to meet with the Board although the Board never invited us to meet with them
   • deliberately misled the community about the details of the complaints in their effort to defame us
   • despite being informed it was illegal to do so, the four Board members issued us with a breach/warning for anonymous complaints
   We inadvertently received an email that included emails sent to the Board from a former Director illegally trying to influence the Board on how they should respond to a complaint their partner had submitted against us and suggestions on how the Board could punish us. Another email showed a member submitted a complaint against us simply to support the same member (now a director) and the four Board members considered this a legitimate complaint which highlights their inability to act fairly.
   There are many documented examples of the Directors breaching their legal responsibilities as Directors and using their positions to bully and harass members. What the community is not understanding is Cooperative Law has been broken which puts the cooperative and all our homes are at risk. The complaints process needs to be handed back to the members.
   We are providing this feedback online as we will not attend meetings where only certain few members are given the opportunity to speak and other members, who do not agree, are aggressively shut down. All points mentioned here are documented and we are happy to discuss further with any interested members.

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