Complaints and Appeals

To ensure any complaint or appeal is dealt with in a fair and timely manner. In the process MECTA will:-
ensure the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness are adopted at every stage of the complaint and appeal process;
are publicly available;
set out the procedure for making a complaint or requesting an appeal;
ensure complaints and requests for an appeal are acknowledged in writing and finalised as soon as practicable; and
provide for review by an appropriate party independent of the RTO and the complainant or appellant, at the request of the individual making the complaint or appeal, if the processes fail to resolve the complaint or appeal

All trainers / assessors are responsible to observe and be advocates for the policy.

This policy will be widely disseminated in the organisation.

MECTA policies and procedures will be monitored and reviewed to ensure that they recognise and incorporate the rights of individuals

MECTAs CEO will be the person responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the policy.

2.1 A participant enrolled in a course, who is seeking to appeal against an academic decision or other procedural matter, will be given the opportunity to present their case. The appellant should undertake the following steps:

In the first instance an informal approach is to be made to the course facilitator with any new evidence or clarification of existing evidence.
Assessment will be reviewed having due regard to submissions made by the participant.
Where the participant is still dissatisfied with the decision a request is to be made to MECTA, in writing, for a facilitator who has not been involved in the original decision, to review the decision. The appeals form is to be lodged through the BFE website (www.mecta.edu.au)
If the participant is dissatisfied with the decision of the independent facilitator, a written notice of appeal may be lodged to MECTA requesting an independent review by an external appeal consultant.
Appeals will be accepted up to fourteen (14) days from the date an assessment result was received.
All appeals received will be written into the Improvement Log and recorded for a management review follow up at the next meeting.
A written response, advising of the outcome of the appeal, will be provided to the participant, within 21 days of finalising the process.
Where the RTO considers more than 60 calendar days are required to process and finalise the complaint or appeal, the RTO:
informs the complainant or appellant in writing, including reasons why more than 60 calendar days are required; and
regularly updates the complainant or appellant on the progress of the matter

3.1 A participant enrolled in a course who has a complaint, on any matter, other than academic decisions, will be given the opportunity to present their case. The participant should undertake the following steps:

In the first instance, an informal approach is to be made to the person with whom the participant has the complaint, in order to see if the matter can be resolved in a mutually satisfactory way.
If the learner would prefer that the matter is to be addressed at a higher level, the learner is encouraged to fill in a complaint form. The complaint form is to be lodged through the BFE website (www.mecta.edu.au) which will be sent through to RTO Manager, who will act upon the complaint appropriately.
If the matter is not resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, a request must be made to MECTA in writing, for a facilitator who has not been involved in the complaint, to review the complaint and have the matter resolved.
If the participant is still dissatisfied, a written notice of appeal may be lodged with MECTA requesting an independent review by an external grievance consultant, or appropriate body.
A complaint, if not resolved informally, must be lodged in writing no later than (14) days from the date of the incident considered to have caused the complaint.
Any complaint received by the MECTA office, will be written into the Improvement Log.
Where possible the complaint will be dealt with immediately. In all other cases the complaint will be referred to MECTA CEO.
All complaints will be dealt with within 21 days of receipt of the written details. A written response, advising of the outcome of the complaint, will be provided.
Any substantiated complaint will be acted upon. All complaints will be recorded on an Improvement Log for the annual Review follow up at the next meeting. Improvement Logs will be dealt with as detailed in the improvement procedure.
The situation/circumstances leading to the complaint will be investigated to reduce/eliminate the possibility of the problem reoccurring. Where this results in revision to information and/or processes/services provided to clients, an improvement request will be completed.
Should a learner wish to speak with someone about a complaint, in the event that the believe the steps above have bot been taken appropriately, they can contact ASQA’s complaint line.
The complaint form will be filed and kept at the MECTA office.

4.1 Mutual agreement is to be reached between MECTA and the relevant participant regarding the external consultant to be engaged for use in the external appeal process. Consultants engaged to conduct the appeal process are to hold recognised qualifications that meet the human resource requirements for the relevant course.

4.2 Where participants wish to use an external consultant who is not approved by MECTA they are responsible for the payment of all costs associated with the use of the external consultant in the appeal process.

5.1    All assessment action will be suspended pending determination of the appeal process. All decisions will be immediately communicated to participants and, subject to the provisions of the Judicial Review Act 1991, the decision of an external consultant conducting an appeal will be final.