Unacceptable behaviour by complainants

We understand that in some cases, complainants will contact us in distressing circumstances and may need significant support and assistance. We expect our staff to be accessible and courteous to everyone.

In a small number of cases, complainants seek to interact with our staff in an unacceptable way. In cases like these, we may reject, without further consideration, complaints which are vexatious or disproportionate. This applies both to the nature of the complaint and to how it is pursued.

We do not expect our staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour including:

• vexatious or disproportionate pursuit of a complaint
• behaviour that because of its frequency or nature hinders our ability to handle complaints effectively
• using abusive, offensive, aggressive, racist or foul language in conversation or correspondence with staff
• harassing, verbally abusing or seeking to intimidate staff
• engaging in unreasonably protracted or repetitive communications with staff
• attending our offices and seeking to speak with a member of staff without an appointment
• repeatedly refusing requests by staff to follow our procedures
• making persistent and/or unreasonable demands of staff and/or the complaints process.

We reserve the right to take appropriate action in cases where complainants are behaving unacceptably including restricting the manner in which the complainant may communicate with our staff or declining to further consider a complaint.

This policy also applies to contacts with any staff who may be handling your complaint at our member publications.