My rights in detention

Right to make a complaint

You have the right to make a complaint if you think you’ve been treated unfairly by anyone in the centre or if you’re unhappy with the way the centre works.

• You will not get in trouble for making a complaint, unless you deliberately lie.
• We will take your complaint seriously.
• Your complaint will be kept confidential (secret). This means very few people will know about it.

What do I do if I have any problems?

If you have any problems or if you’re scared or worried about anything you can talk to the staff in your section or unit like the youth workers or section supervisor. You can also talk to your caseworker, the centre psychologist, your solicitor, community visitors or family and carers when they visit.

How to make a complaint

There are many people to help you if you have a complaint.

You can make a complaint by speaking with your caseworker, teacher, youth worker or other staff member.

You can also discuss your issue with a Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian community visitor, who regularly visit the centre.

Community visitor

If you decide to talk to the community visitor about your complaint you need to know that:

• community visitors are independent from the centre; they work for the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, so this means you can tell them things that are worrying you
• community visitors visit the centre and your section/unit regularly so you can talk to them privately
• you can make a complaint to the community visitor when you see them or you can phone or write to them
• there are special forms for complaints that staff will help you fill in, but you do not need to use the forms
• you can put your written complaint in the community visitor box – there is one in every section/unit.

Other ways to make a complaint

Other ways to make a complaint include:

• contacting the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian on 1800 688 275
• contacting the Office of the Queensland Ombudsman.

If you want to talk with, or write to these people a caseworker will help you.

Remember your family also has the right to make a complaint on your behalf. They may speak with a member of the management team, your caseworker or the department’s complaints officer.

We also have a young persons’ liaison committee where a group of young people from each section meet every month to discuss any problems in their section.

Complaint contact details