Lacking Insight - Community Law

Lacking Insightinto it and they don’t give you time to relax . . .you’re straight into it. That would be a huge thingto consider. Like okay we are very busy today,we are pushed for time, and let’s push this onethrough. That is what you get, that is how youfeel, pushed through, and not making [the hearingappear that way] would be so much better forthe personCM - ConsumerKept waiting . . . and waitingThere are ways that the Board conductshearings that may exacerbate a person’s lack ofcomprehension of the process. An example of thisis when consumers are sometimes kept waiting foran extended period of time as it is standard practiceto schedule a number of hearings at the same timeof day because the Board has no way of telling howlong each hearing will last. Often this procedurehappens without any explanation being given for thesubsequent delay that may occur.Can you remember the actual hearing?I can remember presenting myself at roughlyabout 10 o’clock in the morning of the day ofthe hearing . . . and I can remember sitting inthe waiting room for approximately about 5 or 6hours without any notification as to when I wasgoing to be heard. No discussions about it. Weweren’t able to ascertain information as to whythere was a delay . . . [We couldn’t] even go out,get a cup of coffee or get something to eat.. . . And I found that extremely agitatingexperience. I don’t like sitting around wastingmy time.NM - ConsumerBody language ofBoard membersAs well as displaying traits of common courtesy,consumers emphasise that it is important that Boardmembers make eye contact with them. Eye contactassists to develop trust between people. Making eyecontact is one way of showing that you are listeningto a person as they speak and that you are engagedwith what they are saying; other ways observedby the researchers were nodding and makingencouraging gestures. Active listening is a skill thatrequires patience and time.The combination of little eye contact, the hurried natureof proceedings, and members appearing to have beenwearied by the prior proceedings, tends to give consumersthe impression that their matter is not important.I got the impression, from what I saw in thehearing, that the board was pretty exhausted,they weren’t focused and it was obvious to meby their body language. What I picked up fromthem was that they were starting to slump, theyweren’t sitting up right and attentive . . . theywere pretty exhausted . . .NF - ConsumerAlthough nodding and making encouraging noiseswhilst the consumer was speaking, the Chairpersonwas also speaking to co-members and filling informs. [Researcher Observations].The experience of rural consumersConsumers in rural Victoria express similar concernsabout the Board process to their metropolitancounterparts. However, one aspect that ruralconsumers discuss that appears to differentiate theirexperience is the heavy reliance upon technology inBoard hearings. Of particular concern is the matter ofvideo- and tele-conferencing.54