What is a complaint?

A complaint is negative feedback about services or staff which has not been resolved locally. A complaint may be received by Dolph Business School in any form and does not need to be formally documented by the complainant in order to be acted on. Complaints may be made by any person but are generally made by students and/or employers.

What is an appeal?

An appeal is an application by a student for reconsideration of an unfavourable decision or finding during training and/or assessment. An appeal must be made in writing and specify the particulars of the decision or finding in dispute. Appeals must be submitted to Dolph Business School within 20 working days of the student being informed of the assessment decision or finding.

Early resolution of complaints and appeals

In all cases, issues that arise during training and assessment that are the source of frustration or are in dispute should be resolved at the time, as they occur between the persons involved, where possible. Sometimes, it will not be possible and in these cases you are encouraged to come forward and inform us of your concerns with the confidence that you will be treated fairly.

Complaint and appeals handling

Dolph Business School applies the following principles to its complaints and appeals handling:

• Written records of all complaints / appeals are to be kept by Dolph Business School including all details of lodgement, response and resolution. Dolph Business School will maintain complaints / appeals register to be used to record the details of the complaint / appeal and to maintain a chronological journal of events during the handling process. Records relating to complaint / appeal handling are stored securely to prevent access to unauthorised personnel.
• A person making a complaint or seeking an appeal is to be provided an opportunity to formally present his or her case at no cost.
• Each person may be accompanied and/or assisted by a support person at any relevant meeting.
• Dolph Business School will send a letter within 48-hours confirming receipt of a complaint to the complainant.
• The handling of a complaint / appeal will commence within 5 working days of the lodgement of the complaint / appeal and all reasonable measures are taken to finalise the process as soon as practicable.
• The person making a complaint or seeking an appeal is to be provided a written response to the complaint / appeal, including details of the reasons for the outcome. A written response will be provided to the complainant within 10 working days of the lodgement of the complaint / appeal.
• Complaints / appeals must be resolved to a final outcome within 60-days of the complaint / appeal being initially received. Where Dolph Business School’s Chief Executive Officer considers that more than 60 calendar days are required to process and finalise the complaint / appeal, the complainant will be informed in writing, including reasons why more than 60 calendar days are required. As a benchmark, Dolph Business School will attempt to resolve complaints / appeals as soon as possible. Dolph Business School will endeavour to resolve a complaint / appeal within 30 calendar days.
• A person making a complaint or seeking an appeal will also be provided with regular updates to inform them of the progress of the complaint / appeal handling. Updates should be provided to the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal on a fortnightly interval.
• Dolph Business School shall maintain the enrolment of the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal during the handling process.
• Decisions or outcomes of the complaint / appeal handling process that find in the favour of the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal shall be implemented immediately.
• Complaints / appeals are to be handled in the strictest of confidence. No Dolph Business School representative will disclose information to any person without the explicit permission of Dolph Business School’s Chief Executive Officer. A decision to release information to third parties can only be made after the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal has given permission for this to occur. This permission should be given using the Information Release Form.
• Complaints / appeals are to be considered and handled to ensure the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness are applied at every stage of the handling process. This means that the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal is entitled to be heard with access to all relevant information and with the right of reply. The person making a complaint or seeking an appeal is entitled to have their complaint heard by a person that is without bias and may not be affected by the decision. Finally, the decision must be made based on logical evidence and the decision-maker must take account relevant considerations, must act for a proper purpose and must not take into account irrelevant considerations.
• Further guidance on principles of natural justice and procedural fairness can be accessed via the following link: Principles of Natural Justice and Procedural Fairness

Review by an independent person

Dolph Business School provides the opportunity for the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal who is not satisfied with the outcomes of the complaints and appeals handling process to seek a review by an independent person. In these circumstances Dolph Business School’s Chief Executive Officer will appoint Newbery Consulting, an appropriate party independent of Dolph Business School, to review the complaint (and its subsequent handling) and provide advice to Dolph Business School in regards to the recommended outcomes.

Where Dolph Business School appoints or engages Newbery Consulting, or another appropriate independent person to review a complaint / appeal, Dolph Business School will meet the full cost of engaging Newbery Consulting to facilitate the independent review. Where the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal objects to this appointment and requests to engage a person or organisation they nominate to undertake the review, Dolph Business School may seek the person making the complaint or seeking an appeal to contribute to the cost of engaging this person to undertake the review.

Following an independent review, advice received from the independent person is to be accepted by Dolph Business School as final, advised to the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal in writing and implemented without prejudice.

Unresolved Complaints and Appeals

Where the person making a complaint or seeking an appeal is not satisfied with the handling of the matter by Dolph Business School, they have the opportunity for a body that is external to Dolph Business School to review his or her complaint or appeal following the internal completion of complaint or appeals process.

Students who are not satisfied with the process applied by Dolph Business School may refer their grievance to the following external agencies:

• In relation to consumer protection issues, these may be referred to the consumer affairs bodies such as the Consumer Affairs Victoria, or Consumer Protection Western Australia.
• In relation to the delivery of training and assessment services, these may be referred to the National Training Complaints Service via the following phone number: 13 38 73.