Trauma Informed Complaints Management and Investigations
SESSION OVERVIEW
Effective reporting and investigation processes engender trust. To achieve this, it is essential to move beyond compliance-focused approaches to actively promote a positive reporting culture and apply trauma-informed principles to your processes.
In this session we will explore how trauma informed approaches can improve complaints and investigation processes. We will identify ways to address barriers to reporting and offer practical actions you can take to address them. We will explore the evidence supporting trauma-informed methods, their benefits to complaints management, investigations and outcomes, and practical strategies to apply to your existing processes.
Applying trauma-informed principles to all aspects of your investigation process, while adhering to the rules of procedural fairness, increases trust in reporting, complaints management and investigation processes encourages reporting and champions that the investigation process should do no further harm to complainants, respondents, witnesses or investigators.
SESSION OUTCOMES
You will gain an understanding of:
1. The impacts of stress and trauma on individuals, complaints processes and investigations.
2. Barriers to reporting and their influence throughout investigation processes.
3. The practical application of trauma informed principles in investigations.
4. The evidence and benefits of applying trauma informed approaches.
PRESENTER
Kim Copeland is Principal Consultant at Avyon Consulting. A consultant with experience in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas spanning government, non-government, military and higher education environments. Kim has extensive experience in providing education and cultural transformation programs and facilitating training aimed at establishing positive team and organisational cultures, preventing
misconduct, and applying trauma-informed principles to disclosures, reports and investigations.
Kim has extensive experience in developing and providing advice about trauma informed complaints management and investigation processes. She draws on her experience in clinical, operational and executive leadership roles to provide practical advice about how to reduce barriers to reporting and apply trauma informed principles to your existing processes.
Reflecting her interest in addressing early indicators of diverting from norms and values as a prevention strategy, Kim’s current PhD research is focused on exploring the application of normalisation of deviance theory to sexual misconduct prevention programs in universities.
