Compliments and complaints

At the Department of the Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water we want to hear your feedback – good or bad – to help us ensure we are delivering quality services.

All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence and in accordance with the privacy principles contained in the Information Privacy Act (2009) (Qld) .

Share a compliment

If you are happy with the service you received or someone has impressed you, please share this with the staff member or their manager. Alternatively, you can give us your feedback:

Make a complaint

Sometimes you may feel the services you receive from the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water are not at the standard you expected. Any customer of the department’s services has the right to make a complaint. We take all complaints and feedback seriously so please let us know so we can improve the way we do things.

The department is committed to effective complaints management and will deal with all complaints against our actions, decisions or officers’ conduct in a responsive, confidential and fair manner.

Go local first: contact the departmental business area, facility or service in question. Talking to the staff member, manager, or an executive of the area is often the easiest and quickest way to resolve your complaint.

You can also:

Act quickly: talk to someone as soon as possible. The longer you wait the less clear the facts become, which can make it harder to find a solution.

When lodging your complaint

The Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water encourages you to play an active part in resolving your complaint by:

  • outlining your complaint as clearly and accurately as possible
  • providing any supporting documentation that may help the department resolve your complaint
  • treating staff with courtesy and respect.

What happens when you lodge your complaint?

Your complaint will be referred to an employee who manages complaints on behalf of the department. They will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and may contact you during the process to discuss your complaint or request further information.

Once the department has considered your complaint you will be notified of the outcome, including reasons for the department’s decisions.

What happens if you're not satisfied with the outcome?

If you lodge a complaint with the department and feel it was not resolved to your satisfaction, you may request a review by the manager of the relevant business area. If you are still not satisfied, you may wish to contact the Queensland Ombudsman. The Queensland Ombudsman provides external review and investigation of complaints, where appropriate.

Human rights complaints

The Human Rights Act 2019 protects and promotes fundamental human rights. You can make a complaint to the department if you believe that an act or decision was made that is not compatible with human rights or when making a decision, there was a failure to consider human rights relevant to the decision. You can make a human rights complaint using the same method as a standard complaint.

Once 45 business days have elapsed from the date of complaint and if the department has not responded to your complaint, or you are not satisfied with the response, you may refer your human rights complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

Complaints about the Director-General

The department is committed to managing complaints that are suspected to involve, or may involve, corrupt conduct of the Director-General in a manner that maintains transparency and integrity.

Complaints of this nature are managed ethically in accordance with obligations under section 48A of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 and outlined in the departmental policy (PDF, 444.9KB).

Any complaint or concern which involves or may involve the Director-General as the department’s public official can be made:

If you wish to make a complaint to the Chief Human Resources Officer, you can provide details of the allegation/s:

  • by email to CCCLiaison@rdmw.qld.gov.au
  • by mail:

    Strictly private and confidential
    Chief Human Resources Officer
    Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water
    GPO Box 2247
    Brisbane, Qld 4001

If you are not sure whether a complaint should be reported, it is best to report it to the Chief Human Resources Officer for assessment in the first instance.

Complaints about staff regarding alleged corrupt conduct

If you have a complaint about a Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water employee, which may involve possible corrupt conduct, contact the department by emailing CCCLiaison@rdmw.qld.gov.au using ‘CONFIDENTIAL COMPLAINT’ in the subject.

Public interest disclosures

A public interest disclosure is the reporting of certain types of wrongdoing in the public interest. If you wish to make a public interest disclosure that relates to the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water, you may contact the department by emailing info@rdmw.qld.gov.au using ‘CONFIDENTIAL COMPLAINT’ in the subject.

The DRDMW Public interest disclosure protocol (PDF, 291.7KB) outlines how the department manages a public interest disclosure.

Further information

Last updated: 05 Sep 2022