Communications Statement
Introduction
About us
The Legal Practice Board (Board) has the statutory responsibility for the regulation of the provision of legal services in Western Australia.
The Board’s mission is to be an effective, efficient, and innovative regulator of legal services in Western Australia, with the purpose of advancing the administration of justice and protect the public by:
- regulating the competence and behaviour of legal practitioners in Western Australia
- enabling the effective operation of the Board and its committees.
Underpinning everything we do are our core values:
Competence; Integrity; and Empathetic Engagement.
Purpose of this statement
The Board’s Communication Statement sets out the standard of communication expected in all the Board’s dealings. Specifically, this document sets out:
- who our customers are
- what services we offer
- our guiding principles
- what you can expect when you deal with us (our service promise)
- how you can help us serve you better
- how to contact the Board.
Our customers
We define customer as any person who approaches officers, persons employed or engaged by the Board or members of the Board, with a request for information or to access our services. Our main customers include:
- lawyers and legal practitioners
- prospective lawyers – current and prospective law students, law graduates
- law practices and organisations that employ lawyers
- general public and consumers of legal services
- continuing professional development providers
- tertiary law course providers; and industry associations.
Our services
To deliver our regulatory functions, we provide services associated with:
- admission to the legal profession
- certification/registration of legal practitioners
- legal practitioner continuing professional development (CPD)
- legal practitioner and law practice compliance
- resolving disputes between lawyers and their clients and dealing with complaints about lawyers and law practices
- law school and course accreditation/reaccreditation.
Please note, the Board does not provide legal advice.
Our guiding principles
We will use a set of principles to guide the way we approach our work, as well as our aspirations for continuous improvement. Our principles signal to our partners in regulation, the legal profession and the Western Australian community, what they should expect from us.
| Collaborative | We will:
|
| Proportionate | We will:
|
| Consistent | We will:
|
| Transparent | We will:
|
| Consumer focused | We will:
|
| Informed by data | We will:
|
What you can expect from us
We are here to assist you between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm AWST, Monday to Friday (except public holidays and periods of closure). In providing our services to you, we will:
- ensure you know who is serving you
- engage in a way that reflects our values: competency, integrity and empathic engagement
- deliver knowledgeable information and advice about our services in a timely manner
- be professional, and treat you with courtesy and respect
- behave with honesty and integrity
- communicate clearly and directly
- explain our processes to you
- listen and act on all feedback to improve our service and decision making.
How you can help us serve you better
Recognising and understanding that the provision of customer service is a two way process, we appreciate your assistance in helping us to help you by:
- providing us with all your contact details including full name, email address and
- telephone number
- providing us with accurate and complete information
- co-operating with any requests we make for further information
- treating our staff with courtesy and respect.
Our website is a great place to find general (and specific) information.
Before telephoning or emailing us, please check whether the information you need is on >our website.
If you have a complaint about a lawyer or law practice, please ensure you have reviewed the complaint specific information on our website and sought to resolve the matter directly with the lawyer involved before contacting us.
When lodging a form, application or complaint, please provide accurate and complete information and full contact details so we can effectively respond to your request. You may be required to provide further information after your submission has been received.
How to contact the board
The Board is available to answer your enquiries between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm AWST, Monday to Friday (except public holidays and periods of closure).
Website - www.lpbwa.org.au
Email - enquiries@lpbwa.com
Telephone - (08) 6211 3600
Fax - (08) 6211 3650
Office - Level 6, 111 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000
Post - PO Box 5720, Perth WA 6831
Media: contact the Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Consultant: (08) 6211 3600 or info@lpbwa.com
Managing challenging behaviour
Introduction
We are committed to providing an accessible and responsive services. While the majority of people communicate with us in a courteous manner, a small number of individuals can sometimes be angry, frustrated or distressed or act in other ways that may be challenging.
We recognise that people who demonstrate challenging behaviour often have a legitimate grievance and we will continue to deal with complaints on their merits. Our officers will treat people who contact us with courtesy, and we expect this courtesy to be returned.
Our approach to dealing with challenging behaviour
Our staff can encounter a spectrum of challenging behaviour, from slightly confronting to clearly unreasonable, and our responses will be graduated as follows:
1. PREVENT where possible. We aim to prevent challenging behaviour by practising good complaint handling and communication skills.
2. RESPOND to challenging behaviour. We recognise that people who contact us may feel upset, distressed or angry. Our officers will respond to angry or emotional behaviour in the first instance by attempting to defuse the situation. We will give people reasonable time to express themselves, and listen and acknowledge what they are saying, and how they feel.
3. MANAGE behaviour that is or becomes unreasonable. Behaviour becomes unreasonable when, because of its nature or frequency, it raises health, safety, resource or equity issues for the Board, our officers, or other people who use our services. Examples of behaviour or language that may be considered unreasonable include:
- threats to harm officers or other people
- verbal abuse
- offensive language or behaviour
- racist and sexist language
- harassment of staff
- violence.
Behaviour can also become unreasonable if it consumes a disproportionate amount of staff resources through unreasonable requests or communication. Examples of requests that may be considered unreasonable include:
- asking for an immediate response or priority attention when it is not warranted
- seeking a response to every point, no matter how minor
- insisting on speaking with certain members of staff.
Examples of communication that may be considered unreasonable include:
- constantly contacting us for updates while we are in the process of looking at a matter
- contacting different officers seeking a different answer to a query
- reframing an old enquiry / matter / complaint to look like there are new issues
- refusing to accept a decision after we have provided reasons for our decision and having been given a reasonable opportunity to discuss the reasons
- questioning the skills or competence of staff.
If a person’s behaviour becomes unreasonable, officers will apply appropriate and proportionate strategies for managing the behaviour. For example:
- if an officer experiences threats or verbal abuse, they will name the behaviour and ask the person to stop
- if an officer is bombarded with unwarranted calls or emails, they can ask the person to stop the behaviour, and set time limits for discussions, or limits to the types of emails they will respond to
- if a person demands an immediate response or priority that is not warranted or makes demands about how a matter should be handled, an officer can explain that they will not meet the demand and why. We deal with many matters and need to decide when and how they are handled.
4. LIMIT access. As a last resort we can consider limiting access to our services if other strategies have not worked and the person continues to engage in unreasonable behaviour. Depending on the type of behaviour, we may consider limiting:
- who the person can contact (e.g. limiting contact to a named officer)
- what issues we will respond to (e.g. not responding to issues that have already been the subject of an assessment and explanation, unless the person raises new issues that warrant attention)
- when a person can have contact
- where the person can contact us (e.g. limiting locations for face-to-face meetings to secure areas)
- how the person can contact us (e.g. confining contact to writing where the person has been verbally abusive).
How you can appeal a decision to limit your access
If you have had your access limited you may seek an internal review of the decision by emailing us at info@lpbwa.com
You also have the right to complain to external oversight agencies such as the Ombudsman, or if you believe you have been discriminated against, the Equal Opportunity Commission.