Ms Louise Loughlin:

We have an ongoing improvement programme. As well as the new resources that our parent Department has supported us with, we have also put in place some extra operational management supports to drive some additional improvements. Some of the issues we are looking at include IT changes that will make it more straightforward for customers to make applications to our dispute resolution service. We are also looking at some process improvements at an operational level, for example, regarding the submission of documentation or evidence.

The Senator might know from some of the people he represents or others who have spoken to him about it that this can be a bit of a convoluted process. Like many other public bodies with these type of functions, the RTB has found itself in a situation where people are sending in significant volumes of information - quite often multiple versions of emails, multiple messages, including WhatsApp messages, or videos - and they all need to be processed and grouped for evidence at an adjudication or tribunal so we are looking at how we manage that process. We are talking to some of our colleagues in other bodies such as the Workplace Relations Commission about how they manage that. As well as the increase in demand, the way we communicate in society has changed completely, so how that evidence develops is completely different from old-fashioned books of evidence we might have had in the courts. It has changed quite substantially. As a result, we are looking at making changes there as well. There are many different things that will lead to those process improvements. The plan is to examine all that in detail. What is important to convey here is that the intention of the RTB as a public body is to be open and transparent with the public so that it can see the times.