Anyone can make a complaint to the ANO.

You need to have made a reasonable effort to resolve your complaint with Airservices or Defence first. 

The ANO may decide not to review anonymous complaints.  We will endeavour to keep the identity of a complainant confidential if asked to do so.

We can review:

• how Airservices or Defence handled your aircraft noise complaint or inquiry.
• how Airservices or Defence consulted your community about recent changes in aircraft noise.
• how aircraft noise information is presented by Airservices or Defence.

We can only consider issues raised after 1 January 2010 for Airservices and after 1 July 2014 for Defence.

The ANO does not have power to direct the Government or any agency.  The ANO does make recommendations and to date all ANO recommendations have been accepted and have been (or are being) acted on.

Before contacting us you must have made a reasonable effort to resolve your complaint with Airservices or Defence first.

We cannot:

• review your complaint unless you have been to Airservices or Defence first.
• review an investigation of a complaint that has been undertaken by the Commonwealth Ombudsman or another resolution scheme.
• review a complaint about matters not relating to noise –
  for example: unsafe operations, customer service of airline staff.
• review issues raised before 1 January 2010 for Airservices or before 1 July 2014 for Defence.

You can expect:

• an independent review of your complaint.
• careful, professional and courteous attention to your complaint.
• a confidential, free, fair and timely review of your complaint.
• a clear explanation of what we can and cannot do and the decisions we make.

To help us review your complaint please:

• list the main problems and facts.
• include enough information.
• include copies of any letters or emails that may help us understand your complaint.
• explain what happened when you tried to resolve your complaint with Airservices or Defence and why you are unhappy with the result.
• be brief and focus on the main facts and problems.
• give your full name and address.
• tell us what you want to be done.

We will let you know that we have received your complaint and you will be given a complaint reference number. 

During the review of your complaint:

• you may be asked for more information (by email, phone or mail) if needed.
• Airservices or Defence may be asked to provide extra information or provide a response to the complaint. Any relevant details of your complaint will be sent to Airservices or Defence for their response.
• if the complaint is a simple matter, we will let you know about the results of the review.
• if the complaint is complicated and there are issues Airservices or Defence need to address, we may write a report (with recommendations if needed) which will be sent to the Board of Airservices. We will let you know the results of the review and the recommendations we make.
• we will keep you updated about the progress of your complaint.

We try to respond to your complaint within 3 weeks.However it will depend on how complicated your complaint is and how much research we need to do. We will keep you updated about the progress of your complaint.

If you disagree with the ANO’s decision about your complaint, you can contact us to discuss your concerns.  However, if you are still dissatisfied you can ask the Commonwealth Ombudsman to review how we handled your complaint. – phone 1300 362 072 or online at www.ombudsman.gov.au