Quarterly Summary: 1 January to 31 March 2010
This report provides information about audience contacts finalised by ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs and reviews completed by the ABC’s Complaints Review Executive between 1 January and 31 March 2010.
Audience and Consumer Affairs plays two distinct roles in responding to audience complaints. Where a written complaint suggests that the ABC may have breached its Editorial Policies or Code of Practice, Audience and Consumer Affairs will investigate the complaint and determine whether ABC editorial standards have been met. In cases where these standards have not been met, the complaint will be upheld (either fully or in part) and details published on our website. Audience and Consumer Affairs also provides an
audience liaison service for complaints which do not relate to editorial standards, such as matters of personal taste and preference. These complaints can include scheduling issues, preferences for different presenters, and so on. This report includes complaints in both of the categories described above.
This report outlines:
the overall composition of contacts finalised;
the timeliness of responses;
the subject matter of complaints finalised; and
the number of complaints upheld.
Summary details of all complaints upheld by ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs and all reviews finalised by the Complaints Review Executive during this period are available at http://about.abc.net.au/talk-to-the-abc/feedback-and-enquiries/upheld-complaints/. You can also read some of our recent responses to complaints and enquiries here -
http://about.abc.net.au/topics/.
1. Overview of contacts finalised: how many and how did we deal with them?
Overall there were 11, 512 written contacts finalised during this period. Of these, complaints made up 41% of contacts with 4,671 complaints (comprising 4,729 issues).
Table 1: Written contacts finalised.
Audience and Consumer Affairs provided a personal response to 2,741 of these 4,671 complaints. 1,163 complaint contacts were referred to other areas of the Corporation for direct response, twelve complaint contacts were handled by the Complaints Review Executive (CRE) and no substantive response was required for 755 complaint contacts.
Type of Contact Email Letter/Fax Other Total % of
Total
Complaint 4323 345 3 4671 41%
Appreciation / Request / Suggestion 6084 169 2 6255 54%
Other 540 45 1 586 5%
Grand Total 10947 559 6 11512 100%
2. Timeliness of responses
Audience and Consumer Affairs seeks to respond to all contacts as quickly as possible, and aims to respond to all contacts within 28 days of receipt, in accordance with the timeliness standard for complaint handling that is specified in the ABC’s Editorial Policies. Due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, and the complex nature of some complaints and enquiries, responses may at times take longer than 28 days.
During the January-March quarter, the majority of our responses were provided within the specified 28 day period.
Table 2: Timeliness of responses provided by Audience and Consumer Affairs.
Type of contact Average response time % of responses provided within 28 days
Complaints 19 days 73%
All contacts 23 days 67%
3. Subject matter of complaints finalised
A single contact to the ABC can raise more than one issue. We aim to categorise each significant issue raised in the complaints we receive. The following table counts the number of issues raised in complaints contacts finalised by Audience and Consumer Affairs during the quarter, and shows how they were dealt with and their outcomes. The table also includes complaints reviewed by the CRE.
Report published 9 June 2010.
Table 3: Topics of complaint issues finalised.
4. Complaint outcomes
1,140 complaint issues were investigated by the Audience and Consumer Affairs
Investigations team. Of these, 141 issues (98 contacts) were upheld either fully or partially.
In each case where a complaint is upheld Audience and Consumer Affairs provides a written response to the complainant acknowledging the error. Details of each upheld complaint are also published in summary form on our website. Where appropriate, additional action is taken to rectify the mistake and/or ensure that the problem does not recur. Actions taken in response to upheld complaints can include the following: written apologies to
complainants; on-air corrections and apologies; counselling or reprimanding of staff;
amending programs for future broadcasts; and reviews of and improvements to procedures.
On occasion, a complaint may be upheld for more than one reason. Where possible, the corrective action taken is reported in the online summary of the upheld complaint.
Category Topic Sub topic
Audience preferences Quality - general N/A 117 57
Scheduling / program changes Change of format 141 117
Change of timeslot 160 132
Discontinuation of program 210 157
Interruption to regular schedule 50 39
Other 233 185
Too many repeats 40 34
Subtotal 951 721
Broadcast standards Inappropriate content Bad example 75 66 34
Bad language / profanity / swearing 33 27 21 2 9.5%
Drugs / smoking / alcohol 2 2 2
Nudity 9 6 5
Offence to religious feeling 28 26 18
Other 62 51 31
Poor taste 62 51 41
Sex and sexuality 49 44 35 4 11.4%
Violence 68 61 45 7 15.6%
Intrusiveness / invasion of privacy N/A 4 2 2
News values / news content Not enough coverage 182 40 11
Other 87 13 3
Placement in bulletin 13
Too much coverage 150 95
Promotions - ABC programs and products Not as advertised / misleading / inconsistent 28 24 6
Other 21 10
Too few promotions 6 6
Too many promotions 22 10
Too intrusive 17 10
Too revealing 2 2
Sensitivity and portrayal N/A 14 12 6
Standards of interviewing Other 18 6
Poor context / research / background 32 11 7
Too easy on guest 19 6 5
Too tough / aggressive / rude to guest 53 22 18 1 5.6%
Standards of presentation Language - poor terminology / misuse of word 41 8 Language - pronunciation / grammar / spelling 143 19
Other 253 114
Personal presentation 170 25
Program presentation / set design / camera work 17 7 Sound quality / voiceovers / background music 79 43
Subtotal 1759 819 290 14 4.8%
Corporate / Infrastructure Captions N/A 21 18
Customer service / complaints handling N/A 204 147 63 16 25.4%
Internet - technical difficulties N/A 289 24
Management issues N/A 87 63 2
Transmission N/A 193 13
Subtotal 794 265 65 16 24.6%
Balance N/A 113 98 75 4 5.3%
Bias Anti-government 27 23 19
Anti-opposition 46 33 32 1 3.1%
Other 381 308 236 11 4.7%
Other political 12 8 8 1 12.5%
Pro ALP 58 45 34
Pro Coalition 27 23 15
Pro-government 23 20 8
Pro-opposition 12 12 5
Factual inaccuracy N/A 327 272 243 93 38.3%
Failure to disclose N/A 9 7 6
Incidental advertising - Non ABC products / logos N/A 23 20 17
Unfair treatment Denigration 57 46 25 1 4.0%
Discrimination 20 18 14
Other 25 15 13
Racism 34 31 26
Sexism 13 11 9
Subtotal 1207 990 785 111 14.1%
Other Other N/A 18 4
Subtotal 18 4
Grand Total 4729 2799 1140 141 12.4%
Fairness, accuracy &
independence
Total issues upheld
% of investigated
complaints upheld Total
issues closed
Issues responded to by ACA
Issues investigated
by ACA
