Complaint Handling at Curtin
Curtin's complaints resolution framework comprises the online Complaints Portal, back-end electronic Complaint Management System (with electronic workflow) and a comprehensive set of procedures, guidelines, protocols, and other documentation that assists in and ensures the effective resolution of complaints made against Curtin University, its operations or its officers, at the most appropriate level and at the earliest opportunity. This contributes to Curtin’s continuous improvement cycle so that the potential and opportunity for incidents to be repeated are minimised.
General Information on Complaint Resolution
Information on complaint resolution that is of relevance to all parties to a complaint.
1. Curtin's Complaints Procedures
Click here
to view the Executive Management approved procedures for lodging
complaints (and timelines for lodgement), resolving complaints, making
complaints to external bodies, protecting parties to a complaint and
anonymous complaints. Compliance with these procedures is mandatory for Curtin staff.
NOTE: These procedures do not apply to complaints made
against Curtin students or the Curtin Student Guild. In addition,
student appeal processes are separate to these procedures.
2. Statement of Expectations and Obligations
Click here
to view a detailed statement which outlines Curtin University's
expectations and the obligations of the three (3) main parties to a
complaint during the complaint resolution process:
1) Complainant i.e. the person making a complaint;
2) Respondent i.e. the Curtin person
identified as the one allegedly responsible for the action, behaviour,
decision or omission that forms the subject of the complaint; and
3) Line manager i.e. the Curtin officer assigned responsibility for resolving the complaint during the complaint resolution process.
3. Protocol for interacting with the ISU
Click here
to view a documented protocol which outlines the University's
expectations and obligations in relation to interaction and
communications between internal / external clients and ISU officers.
This includes all matters concerning University complaints and feedback.
The ISU is obliged, and expects its clients, at all times to
communicate and conduct themselves in a reasonable, lawful and
appropriate manner.
What happens when a complaint is submitted
For complainants, this is what happens when your complaint is submitted through the Complaints Portal.
1. Upon successfully submitting a complaint
Upon successfully submitting your complaint, you will see a message appear on your screen with a complaint ID e.g. 20180020.
Please use this complaint ID for all correspondence and communications in relation to your complaint. In particular, when emailing, please place your complaint ID in the subject line and send it to ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au.
A few minutes after successfully submitting your complaint, you
should also receive an email acknowledging submission of your complaint
to the system, and including all the information you submitted at the
time of entry. An example is included here.
Of course if your submission was done anonymously, no such email
can be sent and we will not be able to communicate with you.
2. Upon your complaint being assigned to a manager
When we receive your complaint, we will review it and assign it to the
most appropriate person in the University to resolve. This will usually
be the line manager of the person who is responsible for the decision,
omission or behaviour that you are complaining about.
We will attempt to assign your complaint as soon as possible but
no later than one (1) business day of having received it into our
system, though sometimes circumstances prevent us from meeting this
timeframe e.g. where we need to go back to you to obtain further
information before proceeding. In addition, sometimes we have to
re-assign a complaint to a different line manager which also adds time
to the process
When the line manager has received your complaint and accepted
it in the system, you will automatically receive an email from the line
manager acknowledging assignment of the complaint to them. An example is
included here.
The line manager is expected to accept and acknowledge your
complaint within five (5) working days of it being sent to them.
NOTE 1: The above process does not strictly
apply in situations where we have initially assessed your complaint as
being positive or negative feedback; in other words, where our complaint
resolution process cannot be applied. Regardless, we still require line
managers to reply to complainants in relation to such matters but upon
doing so, we will then close off the matter and no further action will
be taken by the University.
NOTE 2: In circumstances where you have used
the Complaints Portal to submit a query or concern that does not come
within the ISU's jurisdiction, we will either respond to you with
information as to where to send your correspondence, or will pass it
onto the most appropriate party in the University to deal with and
communicate with you.
3. Upon your complaint being resolved
When the line manager assigned to your complaint has completed the
complaint resolution process, the outcome and decision from the
resolution process will be formally communicated back to you either by
email or letter.
NOTE: When you have received this
communication and we have been informed of the complaint's closure by
the line manager, the matter will be finalised and closed off in our
system. Should you be unhappy with the outcome, there are circumstances
under which you can initiate a new complaint or contact an external body
to complain about the University's handling of your complaint. This is
explained in our Complaints Procedures which can be found in the
previous section.
Complaint Management Electronic Workflow
For line managers, the workflow associated with resolving complaints using Curtin's electronic Complaint Management System is described below.
Before proceeding further, if this is the first time you have been assigned a complaint for resolution at Curtin or you've just received a complaint and you're not sure what to do, please first take a look at this high level flowchart which summarises the main workflow steps and where you fit into the whole process.
NOTE:
- A link to the Line Manager Guidelines (currently under review contact ISU for assistance) for effectively dealing with complaints is found in step 4, and a link to the standard template for notifying a complainant of your decision is found in step 5. They can also be accessed via the above flowchart.
- If you require a PDF version of the Complaint Handling Checklist, please go to step 6 below.
1. Receive a new complaint
For new complaints, you will receive a standard
format email notification of the complaint with the Complaint ID
specified in the subject line, along with the words NEW COMPLAINT (see example here). This email will be sent to you from our main complaint mailbox ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au, with the complaint details at the bottom of the email and any supporting documentation attached.
The email will provide you with three options, via the following labelled buttons:
1) ACCEPT the complaint;
2) DECLINE the complaint on the basis of a conflict of interest; or
3) DECLINE the complaint on the basis of it having been sent to the wrong line manager.
You will also see a link at the bottom of the email with the title Complaint Notification Information (see document here) which provides high level information to assist you in identifying the type of complaint to be resolved, and therefore what action needs to be taken.
NOTE: You must take all reasonable steps to action this email within five working days of receiving it.
2. Accept a complaint received
If you click on the ACCEPT button on the email
received in step no. 1, you will automatically receive a standard format
email acknowledging your acceptance of the complaint, with some high
level information on how to resolve it and what you have to do once
you're ready to close it off (see example here). This email will be sent to you from our main complaint mailbox: ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au.
NOTE 1: You will need to file this email as
you will use it later when closing off the complaint, after coming to a
decision on the merits of the complaint matters reported.
NOTE 2: You must take all reasonable steps to commence working on the resolution of your complaint within 10 working days of having received it.
NOTE 3: At the same time that you receive this email, a standard format email will also be automatically sent (see example here)
to the complainant (assuming they are not anonymous) to acknowledge
your receipt of their complaint and indicating that you will contact
them if you require further information or need to arrange a
meeting. You will not see this email as it is only sent to the
complainant.
3. Decline a complaint received
If you click on either of the two DECLINE buttons on the email received in step no. 1, a pop-up screen will appear asking you to enter further information (see examples here):
1) If you decline the complaint on the basis that you are
not the most appropriate decision maker, the pop-up screen will request
that you enter the name of the person to whom you believe the complaint
should be re-assigned. You then click the Submit button which automatically notifies the ISU of the need to re-assign the complaint.
2) If you decline the complaint on the basis that you have an
actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest in dealing with the
matter, the pop-up screen will ask you to enter the circumstances of the
conflict. Again, you then click the Submit button which automatically notifies the ISU of the need to re-assign the complaint.
NOTE: In either case, you no longer have any
involvement in the resolution of the particular complaint.
Once the ISU actions your request to decline the complaint, the
process re-starts from step no. 1 but with a different line manager
assigned.
4. Resolve a complaint
Click here to view a document titled Line Manager Guidelines - how to effectively deal with complaints,
which provides you with detailed guidance for dealing with and
resolving the complaint that has previously been accepted by you. (These guidelines are currently under review, contact ISU for assistance).
It is important,
particularly if this is the first time you have had responsibility for
resolving a complaint, that you read this document prior to commencing
the complaint resolution process as it contains valuable information for
ensuring that you follow proper process in coming to a decision on the
complaint assigned to you.
NOTE: After a complaint has been resolved and formally closed off by the ISU (see sections below), the ISU may send a Complainant Experience Questionnaire
to the complainant concerned in order to obtain information on and
assess how well their complaint was handled by the University and where,
if any, improvements can be made to the process. Click here to see the questions that complainants are requested to answer.
5. Notify complainant of outcome
When you have completed the complaint resolution process (but prior to requesting that the complaint be closed), you will need to notify the complainant of your decision in relation to their complaint.
A standard letter template is available (see example here) which you can use as a basis for communicating with the complainant on the outcome of their complaint.
Remember to send a copy of your completed correspondence to the ISU using our main complaint mailbox: ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au and quoting the correct Complaint ID in the subject line.
NOTE: If the complaint involved allegations of staff misconduct, then your People & Culture representative will assist you in formulating correspondence to the respondent.
6. Request complaint closure
When the complaint resolution process is complete and you are
ready to close off the complaint, bring up the standard format email you
received at the time that you first accepted the complaint (in step no.
2) and click on the button labelled Checklist.
This will take you to a Complaint Handling Checklist template which you
complete online, then send back to the ISU by clicking on the Submit button (see example here).
NOTE 1: It is assumed at this point that you
have already emailed all relevant correspondence and documentation to
the system in support of your closure request (using our main complaint
mailbox ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au while quoting the correct Complaint ID in the subject line).
NOTE 2: A PDF template version of the checklist is also available here
for those complaints that were in progress prior to the CMS coming into
operation on 1 Aug 2018. This document needs to be stored on disk
first, then updated and saved before being emailed back to the ISU as an
attachment.
7. Closure request rejected
If the ISU has received and reviewed your request for complaint
closure and decided that further information is required to support your
final decision, you will receive an email requesting that you submit
the required information (see example here) before the matter is closed. This email will be sent to you from our main complaint mailbox: ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au.
After you have submitted the required documentation, click on the button labelled Checklist in the email you received which again will ask you to update and re-submit the Complaint Handling Checklist.
If all is in order, the ISU will close off your complaint and
you will receive a confirmation email as described in the next step.
8. Closure request accepted
If the ISU has received and reviewed your request for complaint closure
and everything appears to be in order (including receipt of all
supporting documentation for the complaint's resolution), the ISU will
finalise and close the complaint, and you will receive a standard format
email thanking you for completing your enquiries and confirming the
complaint's closure (see example here). This email will be sent to you from our main complaint mailbox: ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au.
At this point, the complaint's status in the system has been set to FINALISED and no further action is required on your part.
9. Feedback versus complaints - a different process
On occasion, the University receives matters through the Complaints
portal which are classified as (negative or positive) feedback or
enquiries.
In such cases, you will receive an email via our main complaint mailbox: ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au,
with the feedback or enquiry information at the bottom of the email and
any supporting documentation attached. In addition, you may be asked to
look into the matter raised and provide a formal response to the
complainant (see example here).
Please send us a copy of your response using the above mailbox,
when you send it to the complainant. There is no need to go through a
formal complaint closure process as we will automatically close it off
in our system.
Formal investigations and inquiries - staff misconduct
The ISU has access to highly experienced investigators to undertake formal investigations into complaints that involve allegations of staff misconduct.
The ISU may also undertake less formal local level inquiries, where assistance to managers is provided during the initial complaint resolution process into staff misconduct.
Where there is a specific requirement to source an external investigation service, the Director ISU is responsible for engaging an external party that has the relevant skills and experience to undertake the work, with the exception of research misconduct matters where the Executive Manager may be more qualified to do so because of the subject matter being covered.
1. Investigation standards
The purpose of a formal investigation is to examine and determine the veracity of a complaint of alleged misconduct by a staff member or staff members so as to reach an independent view on the issues raised / introduced by the complainant.
A failure to follow due process by the investigator during this part of the complaint management process may lead to an unfair outcome and/or decisions being overturned on review.
As such, all formal investigations undertaken at, by or on behalf of Curtin University that are assigned to or are overseen by the ISU must meet agreed standards. These standards have been incorporated into a document titled Investigation Standards.
Of note in these standards is the following:
- Procedural fairness ... (is) the requirement for a fair and proper procedure to be used when making a decision.
- The Investigator shall not be biased in conducting an investigation.
- The Investigator shall not be limited or restricted in any way in determining or deciding the best or most appropriate sources of evidence or information for conducting an investigation.
- The Investigator shall reach a conclusion on a matter being investigated only after making reasonable, logical, fair, rational and valid enquiries in accordance with the Investigation Plan.
- To ensure that any action taken in relation to the Investigator's findings remains impartial, the roles of investigator and decision-maker shall be undertaken by separate people.
- The Investigator shall make a finding on the evidentiary standards of 'the balance of probabilities' (see note below).
IMPORTANT NOTE: In disciplinary workplace investigations at Curtin University, allegations of misconduct made against staff must be proven on ‘the balance of probabilities’ i.e. it must be more probable than not that the allegations are proven. 'Balance of probabilities' refers to the standard of proof required to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of misconduct. This standard of proof is found in the often-cited case of Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336. The Briginshaw test (or Briginshaw standard as it is often called) possesses a measure of flexibility, so that the more serious the allegation the higher the degree of probability required. This contrasts with matters that are dealt with under criminal law where a higher standard of proof exists i.e. beyond reasonable doubt. Also note that universities do not / cannot conduct criminal investigations as they have neither the authority nor expertise to do so e.g. they cannot collect forensic evidence, nor compel witnesses to attend interviews or give evidence.
2. Standard forms and templates
Where a formal investigation is conducted internally by an ISU investigator, a number of standard forms and templates are used during the course of the investigation.
The Director ISU is responsible for the development and maintenance of these standard forms and templates and, by way of quality assurance processes, ensures that each internal investigation conducted makes use of them.
The forms and templates are maintained in the internal ISU Operations Manual. A sample of these forms is included here:
- Investigation Plan template
- Running Sheet template
- Consent to record interview template
- Statement (written & audio) form template
- Standard Interview Structure (Respondent) template
3. External investigation services
The Director ISU has access to the Human Resource Investigation Services common use agreement (Contract No. CUA HRS2015).
This agreement has been set up by the WA State Government to meet the needs of public sector agencies seeking HR Investigation Services in relation to a range of issues including allegations of misconduct, bullying and employee grievances.
The University has agreed on a panel of preferred investigation service providers that are sourced from the above agreement. Wherever necessary and possible, investigators are selected by the University from this panel.
The Director ISU is responsible for obtaining quotes to do work from external investigators selected from this panel, and presenting quotes to University management for review and approval. The Director ISU is also responsible for overseeing the work done by external investigators to ensure it meets the University's standards.
End-to-end complaint resolution flowcharts
For line managers, high level flowcharts which describe the end-to-end manual steps for resolving complaints (including staff and research misconduct) are included below.
1. High level complaint handling process
This flowchart
outlines the high level end-to-end manual steps involved in lodging,
assessing, assigning, resolving and closing a complaint e.g. student
grievances, staff misconduct notifications, research misconduct and
negative feedback.
2. Staff misconduct (under Staff Agreement) - Part A
This flowchart
outlines the specific manual steps to be followed when a complaint
alleges staff misconduct under the current Staff Agreement (Part A).
NOTE: The Staff Agreement
referred to here is the Academic, Professional and General Staff
Agreement 2017-2021, which is effective from 20 June 2018.
3. Staff misconduct (under Staff Agreement) - Part B
This flowchart
outlines the specific manual steps to be followed when a complaint
alleges staff misconduct under the current Staff Agreement (Part B).
NOTE: The Staff Agreement
referred to here is the Academic, Professional and General Staff
Agreement 2017-2021, which is effective from 20 June 2018.
Extra Guidance
For line managers, extra documentation of relevance to assist in the complaint resolution process is available below.
1. Staff misconduct - current staff agreements
Does the complaint assigned to you involve allegations of misconduct against a staff member who comes under a Staff Agreement?
If so, then click here
to find the relevant Staff Agreement and section on staff misconduct /
serious misconduct in that agreement, in order to follow the correct
procedures when dealing with these types of complaints.
Further detailed information is provided in the flowcharts above.
2. Breaches of the Australian Code (research related)
Does the complaint assigned to you involve allegations of potential breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research?
If so, then click
NOTE: The requirements for dealing with potential breaches of the Australian Code have been integrated within Curtin's complaint resolution processes, as described in the flowcharts above. More detailed procedures are available from the Office of Research.
3. Managing unreasonable complainants
Are you experiencing problems with a complainant (or
respondent) as a result of their unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour
during the complaint resolution process?
If so, then click here to view a comprehensive manual from the NSW Ombudsman which details how to deal with such conduct by complainants.
Such matters are also covered in the University's Complaints Procedures listed above.