Complaints Handling Policy 2026

The purpose of this policy is to provide written processes about receiving, assessing, investigating and otherwise dealing with complaints

Complaints Handling Policy 2026

Read further for the full details of this policy. If you have any questions, please Contact Us.

Scope: Any person directly affected by the subject of a complaint. Examples may include staff, students or a student's parent or guardian, contractors, or community members.

Status: Approved

Supersedes: Previous Version 9 Oct 2024

Authorised by: Board Chair

Date of Authorisation: 3/12/2025

References:

Related policies:

JCC Work Health and Safety Policy
JCC Privacy Policy
JCC Practice Framework
JCC Staff Code of Conduct
JCC Complaints Handling Procedure

Review Date: Annually

Next Review Date: December 2026

Policy Owner: CLL Board

Policy Statement

Jabiru Community College acknowledges the right of students, parents/guardians, staff and others to complain when dissatisfied with the school's services, including an action, inaction or decision of the school. The school encourages constructive criticism and complaints. Jabiru Community College is committed to ensuring that complaints received are handled in a responsive, efficient, consistent, effective, transparent and fair way.

Jabiru Community College will ensure employees can recognise, receive, and appropriately refer complaints to the informal or formal complaints procedure.

Jabiru Community College recognises that time spent on handling complaints can be an investment in better service to students and parents/guardians and a better culture for employees, and views complaints as part of an important feedback and accountability process.

Definitions

Complaint — An expression of dissatisfaction made to or about the school, related to the school's services, staff or the handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required.

Informal Complaint — A complaint about a matter that is likely to be simple, straightforward, easily manageable, or minor, where a simple or quick resolution is appropriate such as discussion of the matter with a relevant staff member.

Formal Complaint — A complaint about a matter that is serious, complex or may pose a threat to the health and safety of any person. Examples include serious allegations or breaches of policy, complaints against a senior staff member, including the principal or an informal complaint that could not be resolved informally. Assessment of the complaint is required by a Board member, preferably the Chair.

Complainant — The person, organisation or their representative making a complaint.

Respondent — The person who is referred to in a complaint by a complainant as the person responsible for their concerns or who can best respond to their concern.

Complaints Handling Principles

Jabiru Community College will manage complaints according to the following (which include principles of procedural fairness):

Complaints will be taken seriously, dealt with fairly and objectively, without judgement and addressed in a reasonable timeframe.
Complaints should be resolved with as little formality and disruption as possible, having regard to the nature of the complaint.
Interested parties to the complaint (for example, the complainant and any respondent) will be heard and/or may provide relevant information in relation to the complaint.
Confidentiality and privacy will be maintained as much as possible.
The complainant and any respondent will be offered support as appropriate.
Victimising behaviour towards a complainant, respondent or other people associated with the complaint will not be tolerated.
Complainants that lodge a complaint on reasonable grounds will not suffer any other reprisals on the basis of lodging the complaint.

Complaints that may be Resolved under this Policy

Jabiru Community College encourages anyone who feels impacted by an issue involving the school to file a complaint. Complaints can address matters such as:

The school, its employees or students having done something wrong.
The school, its employees or students having failed to do something they should have done.
The school, its employees or students having acted unfairly or impolitely.
Issues of student or employee behaviour that are contrary to the relevant staff code of conduct and the student working agreement, including inappropriate staff conduct as reported by a student.
Issues related to learning programs, assessment and reporting of student learning.
Issues related to communication with students or parents or between employees.
General administrative issues.
Issues relating to non-compliance with a process outlined in school policies or procedures.

Student complaints may be brought by students or by parents/carers on behalf of their children, as appropriate in the circumstances.

Complaints Managed under Other Policies or Processes

The following matters are outside the scope of this policy and will be managed as follows:

Child protection concerns or risks of harm to children including allegations of sexual abuse, likely sexual abuse or harm to children will be dealt with according to the law and the Child Protection Policy.
Student bullying or harassment — refer to the Student Bullying Policy.
Student discipline matters, including matters involving suspension or expulsion, should be dealt with under the Student Behaviour Management Policy.
Disputes relating to a staff member's employment should be directed to their manager and dealt with under employment law.
Disputes between CLL board members should be dealt with in accordance with the CLL Board Charter.
Student or employee violence or criminal matters — refer to a Co-Principal who will notify the Police and other authorities as appropriate.
Formal legal proceedings should be managed as appropriate in the circumstances.

Responsibilities

The College

The College has the following roles and responsibilities:

Develop, implement, promote and act in accordance with the school's Complaints Handling Policy.
Appropriately communicate the College's Complaints Handling Policy and procedures to students, parents, caregivers, employees and service providers.
Ensure that the Complaints Handling procedures are accessible by staff, students, parents, caregivers, service providers and members of the public.
Upon receipt of a complaint, manage complaints in accordance with the Complaints Handling procedures.
Ensure that appropriate support is made available to all parties to a complaint.
Take appropriate action to prevent victimisation or action in reprisal against the complainant, respondent or any person associated with them.
Appropriately implement remedies.
Appropriately train relevant employees and keep records.
Conduct a review/audit of the Complaints Register at regular intervals and inform the College's insurer when that is relevant.
Refer any legal claims to the College's governing body.

All Parties to a Dispute

The complainant and respondent both have the following roles and responsibilities:

Provide complete and factual information in a timely manner.
Maintain confidentiality and privacy and not discuss the complaint with people who are not directly involved.
Act in good faith, and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship of trust and cooperation.
Act in a calm, courteous and non-threatening manner.
Not provide deliberately false or misleading information.
Not make frivolous or vexatious complaints or retaliatory complaints.
Acknowledge that a common goal is to achieve an outcome acceptable to all parties.
Recognise that all parties have rights and responsibilities which must be balanced.
Not victimise or act in reprisal against any party to the dispute or any person associated with them.
Maintain and respect the privacy and confidentiality of all parties.

Employees Receiving and/or Managing Complaints

Employees receiving and/or managing complaints have the following roles and responsibilities:

Act in accordance with the school's Complaints Handling Policy.
Refer the complainant to the school's Complaints Handling Policy and provide additional information as necessary.
Maintain confidentiality as far as possible.
Keep appropriate records.
Forward complaints to more senior employees, including the Co-Principals, if the complaint cannot be resolved at the initial level or if it involves serious issues that require the involvement of more senior employees.
Not victimise or act in reprisal against the complainant, respondent or any person associated with them.

Implementation

Jabiru Community College is committed to raising awareness of the process for making and resolving complaints at the College by promoting this policy and via the clear support and promotion of the policy. The College is committed to regular annual training of employees on the implementation of this policy.

Complaint Register

Jabiru Community College will maintain a complaint register with details such as the date, source and description of complaints, the employee managing the complaint, the actions taken, outcome and the date the complaint was closed.

The complaint register will be stored securely.

All complaints shall be entered onto the complaint register as soon as practicable after the complaint is received. The complaint register will not contain complaints about the Co-Principals. Records of complaints about the Co-Principals will be maintained by the Board with access restricted to the Board.

To safeguard confidentiality and maintain the integrity of the complaint process, access to the entire complaint register will be limited to the Co-Principals and a member of the CLL Board, preferably the Chair, if required.

The Co-Principal may authorise the sharing of specific, relevant entries from the complaint register with other designated staff members (such as the school leadership team — SLT), provided measures are taken to protect the confidentiality of all parties involved, particularly ensuring that respondents to a complaint do not gain inappropriate access to information about the allegations against them.

Complaint Handling Procedure

1.Lodging a Complaint

a) Complaints can be lodged with the most appropriate staff member at the local level. For example, the initial contact point for many complaints is the student's relevant classroom teacher.

b) Complaints about the principal must be lodged with the Board at cll-chair@jcc.qld.edu.au.

c) Allegations of reportable conduct by the Co-Principals can be lodged with the Board at cll-chair@jcc.qld.edu.au.

d) In addition to 1(a) and 1(c), allegations of reportable conduct by a worker or the Co-Principal can be made directly to the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

e) Complaints can be lodged through various methods, including:

Phone
Online via website
Email
In-person (by appointment)

f) If the complainant is unsure where to direct their complaint, they can contact the school's administration office for guidance.

g) If the complainant is uncomfortable directing the complaint to the most appropriate member at the local level, or wants to make a formal complaint, they can submit a complaint via the online complaint form located on the school website.

h) Where an anonymous complaint is lodged, the school will follow the complaints handling policy, when there is sufficient information to do so.

2.Acknowledgement, Assessment and Referral

a) The staff member receiving the complaint will:

Acknowledge the complaint within two (2) business days, outlining the next steps and where possible the estimated timeframes.
Assess the complaint, using the definitions of informal and formal complaints in this policy, and refer the complaint to the informal or formal complaints process.
As part of the assessment, consider whether the complaint raises a potential reportable conduct allegation involving a worker.
Where this threshold may be met, immediately escalate the matter and manage it under the school's Reporting Concerns of Harm and Abuse Policy, including consideration of notification obligations to the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

3.Registration and Support

a) The recipient of the complaint will promptly enter it onto the complaints register, regardless of whether it proceeds through the informal or formal process.

b) The recipient of the complaint will offer support to the complainant as appropriate, which may include assistance with completing forms or understanding procedures.

c) If a student is a complainant, respondent or victim, or the child of a complainant, respondent or victim of a matter being managed through this policy, the school may offer the student support where appropriate, e.g. discussing suitable adjustments with parents/caregivers.

4.Informal Complaints Handling Process

a) The informal process is designed to resolve issues promptly and collaboratively at the local level.

b) It may involve constructive discussion and negotiation between the complainant and the relevant staff member(s).

c) If the complaint cannot be resolved informally, it will be escalated to the formal process.

5.Formal Complaints Handling Process

a) The formal process begins with the assessment of the complaint by a designated staff member (e.g. a member of the school leadership team or the Board Chair for complaints against the Co-Principals).

b) The staff member may gather additional information through investigation, interviews, or evidence review.

c) The staff member will determine appropriate action, which may include:

Mediation
Disciplinary measures
Implementation of policy changes
Referral to external agencies (e.g. police)
Provision of written updates to the complainant throughout the process
Other actions the Co-Principals may determine as appropriate in the circumstances

6.Complaint Closure

a) The complaint register will be updated with the date the complaint is closed and a brief summary of the outcome.

b) The complainant will receive written notification of the outcome and any actions taken where appropriate.

7.Appeals Process

a) Complainants may appeal the outcome of a complaint by writing to:

The Co-Principals (for complaints not previously managed by them).
The Board Chair (for complaints previously managed by the Co-Principals, or complaints about the Co-Principals).