The revised Student Complaints Policy was approved in August 2009. Please contact John Blahusiak, Senior Policy and Project Officer, Governance Services, if you would like information about the new policy, or if you would like information about lodging or addressing a student complaint.
In the first instance, a student with a complaint should seek to resolve the complaint by talking directly with the staff member who provided the product or services. If it is inappropriate or not possible to contact the person most directly involved, the student may contact the relevant Senior Officer in the area concerned, for example, the Head of School, Dean or Executive Dean in the faculties; or Manager or Director in the Service Centres. The student can expect that their complaint will be treated promptly and courteously.
If a student cannot resolve the complaint informally, the student may lodge a formal
complaint with the University Complaints Officer. The University Complaints Officer will review the complaint and identify the person, or persons, in the University who are responsible for the provision of services relating to the complaint.
Formal complaints must be made in writing on a Student Complaints Form which may be downloaded here or obtained from Student Central on each campus.
If you have questions or concerns about the complaints process at ECU, or just want to discuss your complaint with someone before initiating a formal complaint, please contact John Blahusiak on +61 8 6304 2627 or by email to j.blahusiak@ecu.edu.au.
Complaint handling benchmark periods are described under the Student Complaints Policy of 3 days for the acknowledgement of a complaint and 30 days for a response to a complaint. While more complex complaints will take more time to respond to, these periods allow for monitoring and dissemination of information to ECU community about the timeliness of Governance Services complaint handling. 2009 Student Complaints Tracking Information Year to Date for:
The Department of Education Services offers a free mediation/conciliation service: the International Student Conciliator. The Conciliator attempts to resolve disputes between international students and institutions, as part of the institution's internal complaints and appeals procedure. Students or staff can contact the Conciliator, Ms Anne Duncan either by telephone 08 9441 1953, facsimilie 08 9441 1950 or email anne.duncan@des.wa.gov.au.
The Conciliator will deal with issues relating to:
- institutions' services and facilities;
- content and standard of Education Services;
- amount of refunds paid to students;
- quality of instruction;
- academic progress of students;
- the conduct of international students;
- welfare services;
- information concerning part-time employment opportunities;
- accommodation provided by or advertised by an institution;
- suspension and expulsion of overseas students; and
- any other matters deemed appropriate by the Conciliator.
It is expected that students make use of the internal procedures described above before approaching external bodies with a complaint. Depending on the subject matter of the complaint, students may need to show that an internal, formal complaint process has been completed, before an external agency will hear a complaint. Common external avenues of redress for complainants include:
For more information please contact John Blahusiak or phone (6304 2627).
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Student Complaints