Grievances Procedure

Why this procedure exists

If something we've done, or failed to do, has affected you, we want to hear about it. This procedure explains how to raise a concern with us, who will deal with it, how long each step takes, and what happens if you're not satisfied with the outcome.  You won't be disadvantaged for raising a concern in good faith. That applies whether you work for us, stay with us, supply us, or live near one of our sites.

Who can use it

Anyone affected by Wander's operations can use this procedure, including:

• people who work for us, including casual employees and contractors
• guests and people who book with us
• suppliers, contractors and their workers
• landowners we partner with
• Traditional Owners of the land our sites are on, and their representatives
• neighbours and community members near the sites we operate
• anyone else who believes our business has affected them, the environment, or their rights

You can raise a concern on someone else's behalf, with their permission.

 

What you can raise

You can raise any concern about how Wander's business affects people or the environment. For example:

• pay, rosters, working conditions or treatment at work
• discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or bullying
• safety risks or incidents
• how we treat guests, including privacy and accessibility
• conduct by a Wander worker, contractor or supplier
• environmental harm, such as waste, water, wildlife or land management
• claims we make in our marketing that you think are inaccurate or misleading
• cultural safety, or how we acknowledge and work with Traditional Owners
• anything that conflicts with our Human Rights Commitment or Code of Conduct

Emergencies: if someone is in immediate danger, call 000 first. This procedure isn't an emergency service.

Routine booking questions (changing dates, refunds under our booking terms) go to [email protected].

If you've already tried that and you're not satisfied, you can then use this procedure.

 

How to raise a concern

Use whichever way suits you:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +61 2 9055 7747 between 9am and 5pm AEDT Monday to Friday
• Post:PO Box 608, Cammeray NSW 2062
• In person: speak to the Grievance Officer, or any Wander manager, who will pass it to the Grievance Officer the same day.
• Workerscan also use the contact details in their employment contract.

Tell us, as far as you can: what happened, when and where, who was involved, how it affected you, and what you'd like to happen. Don't worry if you can't answer all of that. We'll still address your concern.

Support: you can bring a support person to any meeting. If English isn't your first language, or you need the process adapted for a disability, tell us and we'll arrange an interpreter or other support at no cost to you.

Anonymous concerns: we'll accept them and look into them as far as we can. We may not be able to update you or resolve the matter fully if we can't contact you, so consider giving us a way to reach you, even a separate email address.

 

Who handles your concern

 

Grievance Officer - Brook Sargeant, General Manager [email protected]

Handles all concerns in the first instance.

Escalation Contact - Cassandra Sasso, CEO [email protected]

If your concern is about the Grievance Officer, or you'd rather not raise it with them, or you ask for a review of the outcome.

Independent Escalation Contact - Paul Miller, Legal [email protected]

If your concern is about the CEO, or both the Grievance Officer and CEO have a conflict of interest.

 

Conflicts of interest: nobody will handle a concern about themselves, or about someone they have a close personal relationship with. If that happens, the matter moves to the next person in the table.

 

What happens, and how long it takes

 

1. Acknowledge (Within 2 business days)

Confirm we've received your concern and who's handling it.

2. Assess (Within 5 business days of receipt)

Decide whether the concern is within scope (section 3), whether anyone is at immediate risk, and how we'll look into it. If it's outside scope, we'll tell you why and point you to who can help.

3. Look into it (Target 5 business days. Complex matters may take longer, and we'll tell you why.)

Talk to you and anyone else involved, review records, and take interim steps if someone needs protecting.

4. Keep you updated (At least every 10 business days)

Tell you where things are at, even if nothing has changed.

5. Outcome 

Tell you in writing what we found, what we'll do, and by when.

6. Review (Ask within 5 business days of the outcome. Decision within 10 business days.)

If you're not satisfied, ask for a review by the escalation contact. They'll look at the matter afresh and tell you their decision in writing.

 

Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in the state where the concern arose.

 

How we try to put things right

Depending on what we find, a resolution might include:

• an explanation and an apology
• changing a practice, process or roster
• correcting a marketing claim or other public statement
• training, coaching or disciplinary action for a worker
• raising the issue with a supplier and following it up
• back pay, a refund or other compensation where we owe it
• repairing environmental damage we've caused

We'll talk to you about what would make it right. We won't ask you to give up any legal right as a condition of resolving your concern.

 

Protection from retaliation

We won't treat anyone less favourably because they raised a concern in good faith, helped someone else raise one, or gave information during an investigation. That includes changing someone's shifts, hours or bookings because they spoke up.

Retaliation is a serious breach of our Code of Conduct. If you think you've been treated badly for speaking up, raise it under this procedure and it will go straight to the escalation contact.

 

Confidentiality

We'll only share information about your concern with people who need it to deal with the matter, or where the law requires us to. We'll tell you before we share your identity with anyone involved, unless there's a safety or legal reason we can't.

 

Records and accountability

The Grievance Officer keeps a register of every concern, including the date received, the type of person who raised it (worker, guest, supplier, community and so on), the topic, who's responsible, each step taken, the outcome and the date closed.

Each year the Grievance Officer gives the CEO a summary of the number, type, outcomes and timeliness of concerns, and any patterns. We use it to fix underlying problems, and we review this procedure at the same time.

 

Other places you can go

You can contact these bodies at any time, whether or not you've used this procedure:

 

• Fair Work Ombudsman (pay and working conditions): fairwork.gov.au
• Fair Work Commission (unfair dismissal, general protections, right to disconnect disputes): fwc.gov.au
• Australian Human Rights Commission (discrimination, sexual harassment): humanrights.gov.au
• Queensland Human Rights Commission (Scenic Rim matters): qhrc.qld.gov.au
• Equal Opportunity Commission South Australia (Kangaroo Island matters): eoc.sa.gov.au
• WorkSafe Queensland and SafeWork SA (workplace safety)
• ACCC (misleading claims, consumer rights): accc.gov.au
• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (privacy): oaic.gov.au