COMPLAINTS, FEEDBACK AND APPEALS POLICY
1. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure Axxis Project Training has in place a policy for the dealing with complaints and appeals. The policy includes a mechanism to allow for the complainant to formally present their case and for an appeal to be heard before an independent person or panel.
2. Scope
The scope of this policy applies to all students, staff, industry representatives, employers and contractors.
3. Responsible Parties
The Chief Executive Officer has the ultimate responsibility to receive, resolve and record complaints according to policy guidelines.
4. Definitions
Appeal
In law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision.
Complaint
A statement that a situation is unsatisfactory, unteanble or unacceptable
5. Policy
Axxis Project Training will provide appropriate mechanisms and services for people to have complaints and appeals addressed efficiently and effectively and will ensure the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness are adopted at every stage of the complaint and appeal process.
Axxis Project Training is committed to a fair and equitable process for dealing with complaints and appeals against assessment outcomes.
To ensure the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness are adopted at every stage of the complaint and appeal process, Axxis Project Training will:
- Make its complaints and appeals policy publicly available by producing it in Student Handbook and making it available on the organisation’s website
- Ensure complaints and requests for an appeal are acknowledged in writing and finalised as soon as practicable
- Provide for review by an appropriate party independent of Axxis Project Training and the complainant or appellant, at the request of the individual making the complaint or appeal, if the processes fail to resolve the complaint or appeal.
If an appeal is to be lodged, in the first instance, issues should be raised directly with the relevant person and attempt to resolve the issue.
Students wishing to appeal an assessment result will be required to lodge the appeal on the Appeals Form (Document APT-45) clearly outlining their reasons for the appeal and lodge same with Axxis Project Training within fourteen days of receipt of assessment result. Students will be advised of the process and of their rights, with regard to complaints and appeals, prior to commencement of program delivery and at induction. This information will also be conveyed as part of any initial program delivery or process.
These processes are outlined in the Student Handbook (Document APT-20) and Staff Handbook (Document APT-21)
Complaints Process - Student:
- If the complaint concerns class work or a course, the problem should be discussed in the first instance with the trainer/assessor.
- All complaints lodged in writing will be acknowledged in writing and acted upon using Axxis Project Training’s Complaints Form. (Document APT-46). If the issue concerns fees, it should be raised with the Chief Executive Officer or their nominated representative. If the issue relates to RTO staff, the matter should be raised with the CEO.
- We recognise that disputes do occur from time to time but would value the opportunity to address any issue from within in an attempt to avoid escalation.
- Once a formal complaint is received, The Chief Executive Officer will acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing to the complainant, and will seek to identify the issue and resolve the concern so as to avoid any further disruption to the complainant (where applicable). Axxis Project Training encourages both staff and complainants to approach the complaint openly and honestly so as to resolve problems through fair and reasonable means.
- When a complaint or appeal cannot be resolved through informal discussion, the complainant is asked to complete a Complaints and Appeals Form, stating their case and providing as much detail as possible, and submit this to the Chief Executive Officer, or their appointed representative, either by email or post.
- Once the Complaints and Appeals Form is received the details are recorded on the Complaints and Appeals Register which is reviewed and maintained by Axxis Project Training.
- A letter acknowledging receipt of the complaint will be forwarded to the complainant within two working days of receipt of the complaint. Where a complaint refers to an individual, the individual will be informed of the complaint and will be invited to respond to the allegation either through discussion or written correspondence. Any discussion held in relation to the matter must be minuted and these minutes kept on file with the original complaint.
- The Chief Executive Officer will investigate all complaints recorded on the complaints Register and will, as far as possible, identify a satisfactory resolution. The proposed resolution will be communicated to all parties involved in the complaint within ten working days and agreement to the proposed resolution sought.
- Upon receipt of the agreement, Axxis Project Training will:
i. Provide the Complainant with written confirmation of the resolution
ii. Record the action(s) taken to resolve the complaint on the Complaints Register
iii. Where applicable communicate the outcome of the complaint resolution to the relevant Axxis Project Training staff member
iv. If applicable, document the need for amendment to the organisation’s policy and/or procedure documentation in the Continuous Improvement
register and implement the necessary improvement
v. Within the notification of the outcome of the formal complaint the Complainant shall also be notified that they have the right of appeal.
Please note: to proceed with a student's decision to appeal a decision, Axxis Project Training must receive the grounds of the appeal from the student in writing.
Appeals Process – Student:
Appeals against decisions or assessment outcomes must be lodged immediately and no later than 14 days from the date of the receipt of the outcome. It is Axxis Project Training’s desire to process appeals quickly and reach a resolution in a short time frame so that the student may continue learning activities and completion of their training program. Should a student wish to appeal a decision or assessment outcome, they should follow the process outlined below:
- The appeal must be lodged on the Appeal Form (Document APT-45) within 14 days of receipt of the result.
- Discussion on the appeal will be conducted between the relevant parties within 24 hours of receipt of notice of the appeal.
- Axxis Project Training will attempt to resolve the issue(s) within seven working days from receipt of the lodgement of the appeal and the appellant will be notified in writing of the result
- The Student will be notified in writing of the outcome with reasons for the decision, and the ‘Complaints and Appeals Register’ updated. The Student will also be provided the option of activating the external appeals process if they are not satisfied with the outcome. The Student is required to notify Axxis Project Training if they wish to proceed with the external appeals process.
Complaints and Feedback – General:
Axxis Project Training welcomes feedback or complaints as we believe that receiving positive feedback and complaints is a great way to monitor our performance as an organisation.
We take complaints seriously and are committed to dealing fairly and effectively with complaints. We want to know what happened and why, and what can be put in place to improve our organisation.
On the other hand, we also wish to provide our people with recognition for a job well done when we receive positive feedback.
If someone provides feedback or makes a complaint, the staff member receiving the feedback/complaint will listen to you respectfully and ask questions so they can fully understand the nature of the feedback/complaint.
If we have done something that has caused you concern, we will apologise for this, look into the matter and find ways that we can prevent the same sort of thing from happening again.
All feedback and complaints are reported to the Chief Executive Officer so improvements can be made to the way we conduct our business. If a complaint is criminal in nature, it will be reported to the appropriate external authority for investigation.
All complaints are:
- Taken seriously
- Dealt with within a reasonable timeframe
- Kept confidential - only parties that need to know about the complaint will be told about it
- Investigated objectively and fairly - no assumptions will be made and no action taken until all the information collected has been considered.
- Repercussion-free - no action will be taken against anyone making a complaint or helping another person to make a complaint, except where a complaint is found to be malicious or without foundation.
There are several ways you can give us feedback or make a complaint:
- Speak to the staff member who the feedback or complaint is about.
If you feel comfortable, you can speak with the staff member who you are giving feedback or making a complaint about. Often matters can be quickly resolved by talking directly to the person responsible. - Speak to the staff member’s Manager
If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to the staff member involved, you can ask to speak to the person’s Manager. You can do this by phoning our head office on (07) 3142 0610 or by emailing the Administration Officer at admin@axxis.edu.au who will direct the email to the Chief Executive Officer for action. - Speak to the Chief Executive Officer
If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to the person or their Manager, you can speak to the Chief Executive Officer. You can do this by phoning our head office on (07) 3142 0610 - Lodge a written complaint
If you would feel more comfortable putting your feedback/complaint in writing, you can do this by marking it to the attention of the Chief Executive Officer and email it to [email protected] or it can be hand delivered or sent by post to 5 Huntington Street, Clontarf, Qld 4019
If you make a complaint and do not feel that it has been dealt with properly, you can contact the Queensland Training Ombudsman.
Queensland Training Ombudsman Contact:
Phone: 1800 773 048 (8:30am - 4:30pm Monday to Friday)