We endeavour to respond to all complaints and enquiries as quickly as possible. We aim to stay within 21 days, but this can increase during periods of high complaint volume. More complex complaints and enquiries may take longer than 21 days to investigate and respond, particularly where contact with third parties is required.

We prefer to respond to all complaints and enquiries in writing wherever possible. This is because we are able to provide images to support our response and links to other information that may be useful. If you contact us by phone, we will discuss the issue with you but will still respond in writing after investigating the issue further. If you have further questions after reading our response, you can contact us again.

If the complaint or enquiry does not provide sufficient detail (for example, it does not state the location of the operation being questioned), we may contact you to request further information or respond with general information only.

Enquiries or feedback on an open engagement activity will be forwarded to Airservices’ Community Engagement unit for consideration and action as appropriate. We will provide an acknowledgement email but no formal response to the contact.

You only need to contact us once to have your complaint seriously considered.

If your contact raises an issue that you already have with us for response, you may be informed that a response is being prepared and that further contact on this matter is not required to progress the response. While you may wish to continue to raise the issue as a complaint, a single response will be provided referencing the various contacts made.

If further contact is made about the same issue after a response has been provided, and if there is no further information we are able to share, you will be advised of this and informed that a response to future contacts about this same issue may not be provided.

We welcome contact from all community members and repeat contacts on the same issue will be recorded.

We investigate all new complaints and enquiries. Where possible, we provide you with a detailed response explaining the aircraft operations, key factors relating to this and if there is any opportunity for investigation of improvements, including current reviews or engagement activity.

If a potential opportunity for a noise improvement is found during the investigation, we will progress it for a further action within the relevant area of Airservices Australia or with the relevant external party (airport or aircraft operator, for example).

When investigating potential noise improvement opportunities, consideration will be given to:

• safety
• other complaints about the operation
• whether a better noise outcome can be achieved overall.

Proposals that compromise safety are not able to be progressed.

Moving noise from one part of the community to another generally will not be considered a better noise outcome overall.

Regular complaints reporting is undertaken to monitor trends and identify emerging complaint hotspots and issues, to determine if there is any action that can be taken. This includes review of:

• the number of complainants and contacts per airport
• the number of complainants per suburb
• the issues raised by complainants.

Complaint reports are available through our Aircraft In Your Neighbourhood page. We also produce quarterly complaint reports to Community Aviation Consultation Groups (CACGs).

The Aircraft Noise Ombudsman conducts independent reviews of Airservices' management of aircraft noise-related activities, including the handling of complaints or enquiries made to Airservices about aircraft noise, community engagement processes related to aircraft noise, and the presentation and distribution of aircraft noise-related information.

If you are dissatisfied with the way your complaint has been handled you may request a review by the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman.