Quarterly Summary: 1 January to 31 March 2011
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 2011.
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 10,919 written contacts finalised during this period. Of these, complaints made up 45% of contacts with 4,899 complaints (comprising 4,929 issues).
Table 1: Written contacts finalised.
Audience and Consumer Affairs provided a personal response to 2,046 of these 4,899 complaints. 1,498 complaint contacts were referred to other areas of the Corporation for direct response, fourteen complaint contacts were handled by the Complaints Review Executive (CRE) and no substantive response was required for 1,341 complaint contacts.
Type of Contact Email Letter/Fax Other Total % of
Total
Complaint 4720 174 5 4899 45%
Appreciation / Request / Suggestion 5276 108 2 5386 49%
Other 614 19 1 634 6%
Grand Total 10610 301 8 10919 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 20 days 76%
All contacts 21 days 74%
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 14 June 2011. Amended and republished 8 August 2011.
Table 3: Topics of complaint issues finalised.
4. Complaint outcomes
888 complaint issues were investigated by the Audience and Consumer Affairs Investigations team. Of these, 90 issues (77 contacts) were upheld.
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 130 26
Scheduling / program changes Change of format 13 1
Change of timeslot 169 132
Discontinuation of program 425 373
Interruption to regular schedule 291 225
Other 157 67
Too many repeats 33 12
Subtotal 1218 836
Broadcast standards Inappropriate content Bad example 52 32 19
Bad language / profanity / swearing 27 26 25 4 16.0%
Drugs / smoking / alcohol 10 8 8 1 12.5%
Offence to religious feeling 25 21 19
Other 73 49 34 1 2.9%
Poor taste 23 9 5
Sex and sexuality 39 29 26
Violence 26 21 21 2 9.5%
Intrusiveness / invasion of privacy N/A 13 7 6 1 16.7%
News values / news content Not enough coverage 224 11 1
Other 172 13 10
Placement in bulletin 18 1
Too much coverage 140 16 1
Promotions - ABC programs and products Not as advertised / misleading / inconsistent 19 12 2
Other 16 8
Too few promotions 1
Too many promotions 14 7
Too intrusive 15 3
Sensitivity and portrayal N/A 29 13 11
Standards of interviewing Other 32 2 2
Poor context / research / background 48 9 8
Too easy on guest 12 4 3
Too tough / aggressive / rude to guest 107 14 14
Standards of presentation Language - poor terminology / misuse of word 73 3 Language - pronunciation / grammar / spelling 133 8
Other 268 48
Personal presentation 142 7
Program presentation / set design / camera work 115 11 Sound quality / voiceovers / background music 63 13
Subtotal 1929 405 215 9 4.2%
Corporate / Infrastructure Captions N/A 30 24 3 3 100.0%
Customer service / complaints handling N/A 96 72 36 9 25.0%
Internet - technical difficulties N/A 243 17
Management issues N/A 54 21 1
Transmission N/A 406 8
Subtotal 829 142 40 12 30.0%
Balance N/A 75 54 49
Bias Anti-government 31 27 27
Anti-opposition 14 9 9
Other 220 161 143
Other political 11 7 5
Pro ALP 85 56 49
Pro Coalition 35 23 21
Pro-government 10 9 9
Pro-opposition 6 6 6
Factual inaccuracy N/A 315 240 228 63 27.6%
Failure to disclose N/A 5 3 3 1 33.3%
Incidental advertising - Non ABC products / logos N/A 24 23 21 2 9.5%
Unfair treatment Denigration 22 13 10 3 30.0%
Discrimination 11 10 10
Other 26 14 13
Racism 21 15 13
Sexism 23 18 15
Subtotal 934 688 631 69 10.9%
Other Other N/A 19 4 2
Subtotal 19 4 2
Grand Total 4929 2075 888 90 10.1%
Fairness, accuracy &
independence
Total issues upheld
% of investigated
complaints upheld Total
issues closed
Issues responded
to by ACA Issues investigated
by ACA
