Student Complaints
This page is for students wanting to make a complaint. If you are a staff member, view Staff complaints.
Curtin University takes all student complaints seriously. A student complaint can refer to the conduct of a University employee, community member, the University’s operations, dissatisfaction with any aspect of the student’s experience with the University, dissatisfaction with an academic matter or a process associated with an academic appeal. The below provides students with information on the process for dealing with a concern prior to it escalating and the formal process for lodging a complaint with Curtin University.
Resolving an issue informally
The University provides various resources which help students address common issues that they may encounter which should be used at the earliest opportunity.
Speak to someone
If the resources above fail to resolve your concern, it is recommenced that you speak to either the party involved or their manager to help rectify the issue. Students should not experience negative consequences for voicing their concerns to the University at any stage of the process.
If your concern pertains to your course, your initial course of action should be to discuss it with your course tutor or coordinator. If you feel uncomfortable approaching course staff for any reason or have approached staff and you are not satisfied with the outcome, consider lodging a formal complaint.
Lodge a formal complaint
If utilising the above resources and attempting to resolve your issue at a local level have failed, consider lodging a formal complaint to the Integrity and Standards Unit.
Below are some tips when making your complaint.
- Be timely. Register you complaint with 12 months of the issue occurring.
- Provide as much evidence and detail as possible, include your attempts to resolve your issue locally and any responses you have received.
- Indicate a preference for what outcome you are seeking.
- Familiarise yourself with the Complaint Categories
Complaints to the University can also be made anonymously. The University accepts complaints can be made anonymously and will take reasonable measures to address them. However it is important that a complainant understands that this may have an impact on how effectively the University can deal with the complaint. There are difficulties in investigating anonymous complaints because the University is unable to seek clarification of the complaint or additional information about the complaint. This includes the ability to gather further information from the complainant, provide natural justice to those subject to the complaint and, where appropriate, update the complainant on the outcome.
