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Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994

Complaints and investigations - Receipt of complaints

33: Preliminary assessment

You could also call this:

"First check of your complaint to decide what to do next"

Illustration for Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994

When you make a complaint, the Commissioner has to assess it quickly. They decide what to do with your complaint. They might send it to someone else to deal with, like an agency or person, as stated in section 34 or section 36.

They might also decide to talk to everyone involved, or look into the complaint themselves. The Commissioner can also choose to do nothing about your complaint.

The Commissioner tells you and the person or organisation your complaint is about what they have decided to do. They can change their mind later and do something different with your complaint.

If the Commissioner changes their mind, they tell you, the person or organisation your complaint is about, and anyone else involved, like an agency or advocate, as stated in section 34 or section 36.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM333958.

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Part 4Complaints and investigations
Receipt of complaints

33Preliminary assessment

  1. As soon as reasonably practicable after receiving a complaint, the Commissioner must make a preliminary assessment of the complaint to decide—

  2. whether to take 1 or more of the following courses of action:
    1. to refer the complaint to an agency or person in accordance with section 34 or section 36:
      1. to refer the complaint to an advocate:
        1. to call a conference, under section 61, of the parties concerned:
          1. to investigate the complaint himself or herself; or
          2. whether to take no action on the complaint.

            1. The Commissioner must promptly notify the complainant and the health care provider or the disability services provider to whom the complaint relates of the Commissioner’s preliminary assessment.

            2. This section does not preclude the Commissioner from revising a preliminary assessment and from subsequently exercising 1 or more of his or her other powers in relation to the complaint concerned.

            3. If the Commissioner revises a preliminary assessment, the Commissioner must promptly notify the following persons and agencies of the revised assessment:

            4. the complainant:
              1. the health care provider or the disability services provider to whom the complaint relates:
                1. any agency or any person to whom the complaint has, in accordance with section 34 or section 36, been referred:
                  1. any advocate to whom the complaint has been referred.

                    Notes
                    • Section 33: substituted, on , by section 9 of the Health and Disability Commissioner Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 49).