Progressive changes bring positive progress at Queensland Public Trustee
30 November 2022
Almost three years after commencing a program of organisational change and reform, Queensland Public Trustee has begun to see early signs of positive improvement in the resolution of issues and improved decision-making relationships for their financial management customers.
The agency recently released the Service improvements and social benefits 2020 – 2022 report – a snapshot of the organisation’s transformational journey since 2020.
Public Trustee of Queensland Samay Zhouand said that while there were still a number of initiatives to be implemented, monitoring of customer complaints and stakeholder feedback showed early signs of progress in the agency’s performance.
“Despite providing financial management services for an additional 590 customers over the past three years, the number of customer complaints to the Queensland Ombudsman have reduced by 40% and those requiring remedial action have reduced from 32% to 5% he said.
“These results are not a reason to rest on our laurels because every complaint is significant for the person experiencing it, but the data shows us we are on the right track.
“We will continue to build on this great work and strive for more positive improvement in the future.”
In 2020 the agency made a commitment to raise the bar on the quality of their services and evolve into a more modern, transparent and trusted organisation.
“Our initial efforts focused on establishment of a number of core policies including our Social Responsibility Charter and Customers First Agenda to set out the vision for our transformation.
“Since then we’ve set in place strategies, frameworks and decision-making models to reframe our operational processes, implemented reviews to our fees and charges, and developed working relationships with key stakeholders to identify issues and drive reform.
“In 2023 we’ll be driving further transformation to embed these changes into more of our training and operational materials and seeking our additional ways to provide financial management services that are more inclusive of the diverse needs of our customers.
“We know we have a way to go, but we’re listening to our stakeholders and we’re committed to providing more transparency around our fees and charges, communicating more clearly, and delivering better support to our customers, their networks and our staff.
“Management of a person’s financial affairs will always create a complex relationship between all the parties involved and we will continue to strive to deliver a considered, consistent and transparent service for Queensland’s most vulnerable people.”
View the Service Improvements and Social Benefits Report (2020-2022).