Yachting New Zealand complaints process

Everyone involved in Yachting New Zealand's work, whether during its day-to-day operations or at events, and whether as a staff member, participant, or contractor, is expected to treat one another with respect and comply with Yachting New Zealand's constitution, regulations, and policies.

Despite this, problems sometimes arise.

Yachting New Zealand acknowledges that it is important for everyone involved to respond quickly, fairly, and thoughtfully to address issues. People are entitled to raise concerns or complaints and to have those addressed promptly and fairly.

No one will be punished or victimised for raising a concern or a complaint in good faith.

The following principles should be kept in mind when submitting a complaint:

Respect for the culture(s) of the people involved, including culturally appropriate processes being enabled to resolve complaints and restore relationships.
Addressing problems informally and face-to-face, wherever possible.
Treating others fairly, equally and in a way that keeps their mana intact.
Maintaining relationships and keeping each other safe.

This process outlines the steps for raising and addressing concerns and complaints. It aims to:

Support people to resolve minor issues on their own.
Provide clear guidance on how to make, handle, and resolve complaints.
Ensure the approach to handling complaints is fair and consistent, and includes culturally appropriate responses and processes.

Who can make a complaint, and what can the complaint be about?

Complaints can be made by or about anyone involved with Yachting New Zealand, including athletes, members, coaches and contractors.

However, Yachting New Zealand's Complaints Policy does not cover disputes about protests or disputes arising in competition, selection for competition, anti-doping violations, match-fixing, betting, or corruption or other integrity violations. These are all addressed in accordance with other relevant policies, legislation, and the Racing Rules of Sailing.

The Yachting New Zealand Complaints Policy also doesn’t address complaints arising from the operation of member clubs or disputes between members of member clubs. Each member club has a dispute resolution section in its constitution, and any complaints about or related to member clubs must be resolved in accordance with that section.

Complaints may involve:

Organisation management issues
Conflicts of interest (including favouritism)
Disrespectful behaviour
Low-level bullying
Low-level sexual harassment
Discrimination
Abuse of power
Health and safety risks
Offensive/insulting language or behaviour

Serious complaints (e.g. unethical, dishonest or illegal behaviour, harassment (sexual, racial or otherwise), bullying, health and safety risks, unlawful discrimination, and offensive/insulting language or behaviour) should be escalated immediately to Yachting New Zealand's complaints officer (in other words, the informal resolution process below is not appropriate).

Yachting New Zealand's Complaints Policy will apply.

Informal resolution first

People are always encouraged to raise concerns directly with the person who has behaved in a way that raises concerns, unless there are safety concerns or the issue is too serious to be resolved in this way.

If you do not feel comfortable raising the complaint yourself, a support person can raise it on your behalf. Both parties involved should have a chance to be heard respectfully and feel safe to say what they want, keeping in mind the need to find ways to resolve issues and work with one another in the future.

If self-managed informal resolution is not successful or appropriate, it should be raised with Yachting New Zealand's complaints officer, who, in consultation with the people involved, will put in place an appropriate process to try to resolve it pursuant to the Yachting New Zealand Complaints Policy.

Formal complaints procedure

What do I need to do?
Formal complaints should be made in writing, as soon as possible after the event(s). The staff at Yachting New Zealand can help with this part of the process, if necessary. You can initially make contact with Yachting New Zealand by telephone.

We have a complaints form (see below) which will help you provide the information we need to begin the process.

Who do I make the complaint to?
Formal complaints should be raised with Yachting New Zealand's complaints officer. The complaints officer is someone within Yachting New Zealand who, as part of their role, deals with any complaints made to Yachting New Zealand and has had training in dispute resolution.

However, anyone at the Yachting New Zealand head office can receive a complaint and forward it to the complaints officer; or you can contact the chief executive officer (or another member of the senior leadership team) or the chair of Yachting New Zealand if you are most comfortable doing that.

All of the contact details you need are at the end of this guide.

How will I be treated?
A person making a formal complaint can expect to be treated in line with the following principles:

Support: Both the person making the complaint and the person complained about should have access to support throughout the complaint process. Everyone involved in a process may be accompanied by chosen family/whānau and/or other support people.
Confidentiality: Information relating to a complaint will not be shared with any other person without consent unless fair process or the law requires the information to be shared with a person or an authority. This will be discussed with the person providing the information.
Fairness: Everyone handling a complaint will remain neutral and listen to both sides of the story. Any action arising from a complaint will be reasonable in proportion to the seriousness of the complaint.
Respect: Every person involved in a complaint will be treated with respect and is expected to act towards others with respect, dignity, and in a culturally appropriate way. Complaints will be raised and handled sensitively to preserve relationships by acknowledging each other's roles and contributions to sailing.
Communication: Every person involved in a complaint will be regularly kept up to date on progress and the outcome.
Restoration: The goals of the complaints process are to resolve the complaint, restore people's mana and maintain positive relationships within Yachting New Zealand and across the sporting and wider community.
Acknowledgement: Every person involved in a complaint will be asked to recognise the importance of acknowledging any fault or mistakes, the hurt they have caused, and, if necessary, to give a genuine apology.

What is the usual process for resolving my complaint?

Initial steps
Yachting New Zealand will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five (5) working days and will make initial contact to discuss next steps, ask the complainant what they want from the process, and address any support, wellbeing, or safety concerns.

The complaints officer will make an initial assessment of the complaint. The complaints officer may decide at this stage not to progress the complaint.

If the complaint is progressed, the complaints officer will ordinarily support the parties in resolving the outstanding issues informally. However, if the complaint involves an immediate risk to safety or security or is an issue or serious concern or involves actual or suspected criminal behaviour, it must be escalated and dealt with urgently.

It is important to note that, to resolve complaints fairly for everyone involved, complaints and relevant information will usually be shared with the person or persons against whom complaints have been made. If the person is under 18, their parent/guardian will also be notified. If the complainant is unwilling to have their complaint or identity shared with the person or persons concerned, it may not be possible to progress the complaint, and alternative ways to resolve it will need to be discussed.

Mediation
If the complaint cannot be resolved informally, the complaints officer may recommend mediation or some other form of alternative dispute resolution.

Investigation and determination
If mediation fails or is not appropriate, the complaints officer will investigate the complaint. The person who made the complaint, the person about whom the complaint is made, and any other relevant people may be asked to provide further information. The complaints officer will prepare a report, and the parties will be asked to comment on its content.

If the complaint is still ongoing at this stage, an ombudsman appointed by Yachting New Zealand will determine it after considering the report, any other information they deem appropriate, and, if necessary, holding a hearing.

The available outcomes are: no further action; an apology or corrective action; training or coaching; disciplinary action; or a process of improvement.

Communicating the outcome
The complaints officer will provide a copy of the decision to the person or organisation the complaint is about and the complainant. The outcome will be discussed so the parties understand the decision and why it was made, and what will happen next.

There will be a discussion about the steps that can be taken to restore relationships and mana for everyone involved. The need for support will be assessed, particularly if there are concerns about health, well-being, or safety.

All matters related to a complaint will be recorded in writing and placed in a confidential complaint file, including the complaint, any response to the complaint, notes of any meetings or conversations, relevant documents, committee minutes, the decision, and any outcome.

Any information provided to Yachting New Zealand during the complaints process will be collected, stored and shared in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and Yachting New Zealand's Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.

Contact details

Complaints officer: complaints@yachtingnz.org.nz
Chief executive: Steve Armitage - steve@yachtingnz.org.nz, (09) 361 1471
General manager (Community and Development): Raynor Haagh - raynor@yachtingnz.org.nz, (09) 361 4021
Finance manager: Dave Smith - finance@yachtingnz.org.nz, (09) 361 4026
Board chair:chair@yachtingnz.org.nz