Appeal to the Student Appeals Committee
The Student Appeals Committee is the final level of formal appeal within the University.
- How do I know whether I should appeal to the Student Appeals Committee?
- Grounds for appeal to the Student Appeals Committee
- Is there a time limit for me to lodge my appeal to the Student Appeals Committee?
- What information must my appeal to the Student Appeals Committee contain?
- Where do I send my appeal to the Student Appeals Committee?
- The Student Appeals Committee process
- How long will my appeal to the Student Appeals Committee take?
- Can I re-enrol pending the outcome of my appeal to the Student Appeals Committee?
- What if I am not satisfied with the outcome of my Student Appeals Committee review?
- External Appeal
How do I know whether I should appeal to the Student Appeals Committee?
Your appeal must be based on valid grounds for appealing to the Student Appeals Committee.
Grounds for appeal to the Student Appeals Committee
- You did not have sufficient opportunity to present your case to the decision-maker;
- The decision-maker was affected by bias;
- The process was not carried out in accordance with the relevant rule(s) or appeal guidelines; or
- The decision was made contrary to the evidence provided.
Is there a time limit for me to lodge my appeal?
You must lodge your appeal within 20 business days of being given access to your results and Academic Progression Status.
Check here for the closing dates for lodging an appeal
What information must my Appeal contain?
When completing an appeal form to the Student Appeals Committee you need to specify:
- The decision you are appealing against;
- The grounds for your appeal (from those set out above);
- A clear statement for each of your ground(s) for appeal, explaining the basis for your claims;
- Any supporting evidence for your case.
Please note that your appeal will not be considered if it does not include the above requirements, or the grounds given are not valid. Instead your appeal papers will be returned to you within five business days of the date of submission. You will then have five business days to submit a revised appeal.
Where do I send my Appeal?
Your appeal to the Student Appeals Committee must be lodged at Student Central, either in person or by post, fax or email. If you are emailing any attachments, these need to be accessible using Microsoft Office.
The Student Appeals Committee Process
Student Central will forward your appeal to the Executive Support Officer of the Student Appeals Committee.
The Student Appeals Committee will determine whether the evidence you submit warrants proceeding with the appeal.
If the appeal proceeds, the Student Appeals Committee will review the circumstances relating to the case and ensure that due process has been carried out in accordance with the Admission, Enrolment and Academic Progression rules.
Membership of the Student Appeals Committee is as follows:
- Chairperson appointed by Academic Board (Associate Professor or Professor);
- Two academic staff members from separate Faculties to that of the Chair;
- One student representative appointed by either the Student Guild or the Post Graduate and Honours Association depending on the level of the student appealing. The student representative represents wider student interests in the fairness and justice of decisions, rather than being an advocate for each student appeal;
- An Executive secretary appointed by the Director SSC.
Where the Committee finds the appellant to have valid and reasonable grounds to uphold the appeal, an appropriate resolution will be specified. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you will be given the reasons for the outcome.
How long will my appeal take?
The Student Appeals Committee will reach a decision within 15 business days of the date on which the appeal was lodged.
The outcome of your appeal and the reason for the decision will be communicated to you in writing by the executive officer of the Student Appeals Committee within 3 business days of the date of hearing.
Can I re-enrol pending the outcome of my Academic Progression Status review?
ECU will allow provisional re-enrolment, pending the outcome of your appeal.
If this is applicable in your case, you need to advise Student Central when you lodge your Student Appeals Committee application. Your status will be amended and you will be advised to re-enrol on SIMO.
If your appeal is subsequently unsuccessful, you will be withdrawn from your provisional unit enrolment by Assessments. Should the appeal process extend beyond the recommended guidelines and past the census date, you have recourse to request withdrawal without financial penalty.
NOTE: ECU allows students to enrol provisionally in good faith. Therefore, where an unsuccessful appeal results in withdrawal from provisionally enrolled units, students cannot for any reason, claim disadvantage in relation to being subsequently withdrawn from those units eg. Academic, financial, personal.
What if I am not satisfied with the outcome of my Student Appeals Committee review?
The decision of the Student Appeals Committee is final and there is no further avenue of appeal within the University.
External Appeal
Under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (2000), international students who have exhausted the University’s internal Appeals process have a further avenue of appeal to the WA State Ombudsman. Students intending to appeal to the WA State Ombudsman must provide evidence to the University that they have lodged an appeal within 20 working days of receiving notification of the outcome of the Student Appeals Committee. If no evidence of external appeal is provided, Edith Cowan University must, under Section 20 of the Act, notify DIAC that the student has been suspended or excluded from the University. Please note that the WA State Ombudsman will only review matters of process - they will not re-examine the merits of the case.
The following information is provided by the WA State Ombudsman:
If you are not satisfied that the University’s internal complaint and appeal process has been conducted fairly, you can make a complaint to the Western Australia Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent and external to the University and does not charge any fees for his services.
Please note that the Ombudsman will normally only consider whether the University has followed its own policies and procedures and whether the handling of your case has been fair and reasonable. The Ombudsman does not make a new decision (for example, as to what the academic result for a subject should be) to replace the decision made by the University. However, as a result of an investigation, the Ombudsman may recommend that the University reconsider your case.
You will need to make a complaint in writing if you would like the Ombudsman to examine your case.
Contact details for the Ombudsman are:
Mail: Ombudsman Western Australia
PO Box Z5386
St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6831
Fascimile: 08 9325 1107
Email: mail@ombudsman.wa.gov.au
Website: www.ombudsman.wa.gov.au
If you have any queries about making a complaint to the Ombudsman please telephone 9220 7555 or free call 1800 117000 (outside the metropolitan area) and ask to speak to an Enquiry Officer.