Empowering Frontline Staff

Handling Feedback and Complaints with Confidence and Compassionate Communication

Date: Monday 16 June 2025

Time: 11am to 12.30pm ACST | 11.30am to 1pm AEST | 9.30am to 11am AWST

Presenter: Petra Jankulovski - Dispute Resolution Specialist, CoHandle

Frontline aged care staff are the first point of contact for residents and families, often receiving feedback and handling concerns before they escalate into formal complaints. This workshop is designed specifically for frontline care staff (not managers or team leaders) to build confidence in addressing feedback, responding effectively and understanding their role in the feedback and complaints process.

This highly interactive online session encourages open discussions, real-life scenarios and a practical approach to problem-solving in a safe and supportive environment.

To ensure inclusivity, the session is delivered in Plain English, making it accessible for staff whose first language is not English.

Workshop Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Understand the difference between feedback and complaints and why both matter
• Learn how to respond in the moment when residents or families raise concerns
• Gain confidence in de-escalating issues before they turn into formal complaints
• Know when and how to escalate matters appropriately
• Feel empowered to document and report concerns effectively, without fear of blame
• Learn communication techniques that foster trust and resolution

Workshop Format:

Participants will receive a workbook before the session, which includes:

• Real-life case studies tailored to aged care settings
• Group discussions to share experiences and challenges

• Practical tools and "cheat sheets" to support staff in their daily roles

Why This Matters for Frontline Staff:

Many aged care providers find that their frontline staff feel uncertain or overwhelmed when residents and families provide feedback or raise concerns.

This often leads to:

• Underreporting of feedback and complaints.
• Missed opportunities for early resolution.
• Increased workload for team leaders and managers.
• Staff stress and frustration due to unclear expectations.

This workshop bridges that gap by equipping frontline staff with practical, real-world skills to handle feedback with confidence, clarity, and care - helping to improve the overall culture of feedback within the organisation.

About Petra Jankulovski - Dispute Resolution Specialist:

Petra Jankulovski is a trusted dispute resolution consultant with over 20 years of experience in conciliation across essential services, public transport, telecommunications, recruitment, disability, and aged care. She specialises in simplifying complex conflicts, ensuring fair outcomes, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

With a background in Social Work and a major in family dispute resolution, Petra brings a humanitarian, solutions-focused approach to her work. She conducts independent audits of aged care feedback and complaints systems, delivers tailored training both online and in person, and develops educational workbooks to upskill staff.

Passionate about system reform, Petra helps businesses turn complaints into opportunities for service improvement, ensuring feedback management is not just a compliance task but a tool for building trust and strengthening relationships.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

By ordering tickets, you as the buyer and the ticket holders agree to:

• Not circulate or distribute the weblink or resources to any person or organisation who is not a registered attendee (you will receive an invoice for the extra attendee/s)
• Not show the event in a group setting where unregistered attendees are present (you will either receive an invoice for the extra attendees or be removed and no refund given)
• Not make any recordings or capture the video or audio in any capacity

ACIA reserve the right to:

• Remove unauthorised participants from a session if no response is received by the unauthorised attendee within 10 minutes (by Zoom chat).
• Request all participants to turn on their camera

By purchasing tickets you agree to ACIA sending training updates to you.

Notification of cancellation or transfer of registration must be by email to enquiry@acia.asn.au. No refund is available for any cancellations received five working days or less prior to the start date, however a substitute delegate is welcome. Please notify ACIA of any substitution as soon as possible. No refund or transfer will be given for non-attendance.

DISCLAIMER: The advice and views of speakers and the content of presentations are entirely and exclusively the views of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of ACIA. ACIA disclaims all liability in relation to actions taken in response to information presented by speakers.