Complaints Management

Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga Wagga (CEDWW) assesses, resolves and follows up complaints received by CEDWW.

CEDWW is committed to resolving complaints, concerns and grievances in a manner that is reflective of the Catholic mission and respects the dignity of the individual.

A formal complaint should only be submitted if a problem or concern that arises cannot be resolved with the person or school involved.

If a resolution is unable to be reached then the complaint should be submitted via the Complaints Handling Form.

Please refer to the Complaints Handling Procedures outlined below before submitting a complaint.

Submit a Complaint

Forms

CEDWW Complaint Form

Policies and Resources

Complaint Handling Procedures and Complaints Handling Policy are to be made accessible to all staff, parents, guardians, students, volunteers and contractors.

How to Make a Complaint using the CEDWW Complaint Form

You will need to complete the following :

Who you are (Staff, Student, Parent, Guardian etc.)
Name
Email
Address
Contact Number
Select – The complaint is about (Safeguarding, Head Office Employee, Staff Member at School Level, Student, School Matter)
Select – Is the complaint related to a School or Head Office?
Give details of the complaint
Outcome you are seeking
Have you raised this concern before?
Who dealt with the matter?

Once you click send you will receive an automatic notification stating the following:

“Your complaint has been received, you will be contacted within three business days to discuss further.”

The form will be sent to the CEDWW System Performance Team for Review and you will be issued a complaint reference number

Example of Complaints covered by the procedure

Complaints, Issues related to students
Complaints, Issues related to CEDWW Employees
Complaints Safeguarding

Who can make a complaint?

Students within the school
Parents/Guardians of students at the school
Members of the wider community
All CEDWW Employees

Making a complaint

Some complaints, because of the seriousness of their nature, should be referred immediately to the Safeguarding Team, System Performance Team or Principal – e.g. complaints regarding circumstances/ behaviour which places others at risk of serious harm.

*note Parents are ill-advised to approach the children of other families with a school-related complaint. This is often a sensitive area and in order to protect all the parties, it is advisable to work through the relevant teacher/principal.

Before making a formal complaint

School-based if a problem or concern that arises within a school cannot be resolved with the person involved with the issue. Then it would normally be raised with an appropriate staff member with a view to discussing the issue and seeking resolution of such problems or concerns.

Making a formal complaint

If the above process of raising the concern, obtaining the facts, and obtaining resolution, is not producing a satisfactory outcome, refer to 3.6 Complaints Handling Policy the following procedures can be used

School-Based Formal Complaints

1. The Complaint will be put in writing using the (complaint form) the complaint will be submitted the Principal (complaint manager)

2. The Principal will establish the process to deal with the complaint by:

Assessing the seriousness of the complaint
Assessing the appropriateness of each option for resolution
Keeping the resolution as close to the source of the complaint as possible.

All other Formal Complaints

If the complaint is against the principal – The Complaint will be put in writing using the complaint form) the form will be issued to the System Performance Team (complaint manager)
The Complaint Manager will establish a process to deal with the complaint by:

Assessing the seriousness of the complaint
Assessing the appropriateness of each option for resolution
Keeping the resolution as close to the source of the complaint as possible.

If the complaint is against a Staff Member – The Complaint will be put in writing using the (complaint form) the form will be issued to the System Performance Team (complaint manager)
The Complaint Manager will establish a process to deal with the complaint by:

Assessing the seriousness of the complaint
Assessing appropriateness of each option for resolution
Keeping the resolution as close to the source of the complaint as possible.

Possible Remedies and Outcomes

Where the complaints management process determines that the service provided by the School or the CEDWW to an individual is unsatisfactory, consideration must be given to an appropriate remedy that may be offered to the complainant.

Possible remedies that may be offered to complainants include:

an agreement between the parties;
an apology, verbal or written, as appropriate;
reconsideration of a decision;
amending or retracting documentation;
an offer of non-financial assistance, as appropriate;
changed policies or practices to prevent a reoccurrence; and
action to modify the behaviour of the staff member who the complaint was about, if applicable.
If a complaint is not upheld or not substantiated (for example if there is insufficient evidence) but some issues come out of the investigation that are required to be addressed then, possible outcomes include:
relevant training for employees and/or students;
monitoring of the behaviour of employees and/or students;
counselling for the aggrieving person; and/or
mediation at the local level.
if the complaint is proved not to have happened at all, is found to be frivolous, malicious or vexatious, or there is evidence that the complaint was made with the main purpose or intent of causing distress to the other named as the source of the grievance, the following are possible outcomes:
counselling for the person who made the complaint;
a written apology from the person who made the complaint;
an official warning; or
referral for disciplinary action for students and staff

Explanatory Notes and Definitions

Complaint Manager is a person who is managing the complaint as determined by the Principal, workplace manager, a member of the senior leadership team; or the Director of Schools, where appropriate.

Confidentially means that information obtained during the course of the investigation of complaints will be treated as confidential. Principals and authorised officers of the CEDWW may exercise their discretion as to how information is shared and with whom where appropriate.

Inquiry is a question raised by a student, parent or caregiver, member of the community, staff about the services provided by the school or the CEDWW. While inquiries are generally considered as someone seeking information, they can also be considered a complaint.

Mediation is a process where an independent person (either internal or external to the organisation) assists parties to resolve their differences or disputes. It is generally a more structured process than self-resolution or managerial assistance however it is still conducted in an informal manner, as all parties are encouraged to speak openly about the issues to assist in obtaining a resolution. Procedural Fairness is a basic right of all individuals dealing with authorities.

Procedural fairness is generally recognised as having two essential elements:

The right to be heard which includes:

the right to know why the action is happening
the right to know the way in which the issues will be determined
the right to know the allegations in the matter and any other information which will be taken into account; and
the right of the person against whom the allegations have been made to respond to the allegations.

The right of a person to an unbiased decision which includes:

the right to impartiality in the investigation and decision making phases
the right to an absence of bias by the decision maker.

Significant Complaint is a complaint that due to the complexity of circumstances and the interrelationships of factors has been assessed by the Principal or an appropriate officer of the 5 CEDWW as significant. Examples of such complaints include, but are not limited to, a significant breakdown of relationships in the school community has occurred and therefore the complaint cannot be resolved at the school level; the matter is likely to impact the future wellbeing of the student, or there are potential legal or criminal implications.

Access to support

A support Person is someone that a person can nominate to attend a meeting with them to provide emotional support and reassurance. A support person is not an advocate and cannot speak on behalf of the person they are supporting in the meeting. There may be circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a particular person to take on the role of a support person. The role of a support person includes:

observing the meeting and assisting with clarifying the process, where appropriate
respecting and maintaining the confidentiality of the matters discussed at all times
taking notes to assist
providing emotional support including requesting a break if required.

Students under the age of 18 who make a complaint are to be offered the support of an adult support person. This may be a parent, guardian, teacher or other significant person. A complainant who may require support in putting their complaint in writing will be offered appropriate assistance.

All EMPLOYEES participating in the complaints process may access a confidential counselling (EAP) service on 1300619379