COMPLAINT RESOLUTION POLICY
June 2020
STEM ACADEMY PTY LTD (ACN 635 993 814) trading as STEM Club (“STEM CLUB”) is committed to providing their students and professionals with high quality STEM education. STEM CLUB operates as an education facility for both the education of Students, and for the professional development of Schoolteachers.
STEM CLUB’s objective is to engage more Students and Schoolteachers in STEM, through the provision of practical activities, high-quality education, and simple and easy to understand guidance. STEM CLUB is committed to this goal and understands that policies for complaint resolution are important to ensure client satisfaction, the quality of our educational services and identifying areas for improvement.
Purpose
This Policy seeks to set out the procedure and methods by which STEM CLUB resolves complaints it may receive from time to time. STEM CLUB takes all complaints seriously and endeavors to resolve all complaints as efficiently as possible through the implementation of this Policy.
Policy Statement
STEM CLUB’s goal is to improve engagement in STEM of both Students and Schoolteachers. To ensure the quality of its education services, STEM CLUB will respond to all complaints with objectivity and within a reasonable time.
Each complaint is important for improving client satisfaction with the training and education provided by STEM and presents an opportunity for STEM CLUB to continue to review and assess its policies, procedures, employees and the training provided.
Method and Transmission of Complaint
A complaint may be made to the STEM CLUB’s complaint officer whose details are below:
Any complaint should be marked accordingly to ensure the confidentiality of the complaint. If a complaint is forwarded to another member of the STEM CLUB team, it will be immediately forwarded to the complaints officer.
Complaints may also be made in person or over the phone if these methods are more convenient. Complaints received via these methods will be communicated to the complaints officer as soon as possible after receipt.
Complaint Resolution
The complaint officer will be responsible for the consideration, investigation and resolution of the complaint, unless the complaints officer considers it appropriate to delegate the complaint, having regard to the nature of the complaint and against whom the complaint is made. We note that any delegated member will be held to the same standards as the complaints officer and must not be the subject of the complaint or have any conflict of interest.
The investigating officer will contact the complainant to confirm receipt of the complaint and to provide a timetable for its investigation and finalisation (where it is possible to do so at these preliminary stages).
STEM CLUB endeavors to resolve all complaints within a reasonable time. This time may vary due to reasons such as the length of complaint, scope of complaint, and the nature of the complaint.
The investigating officer may also provide the complainant with an opportunity to provide additional submissions or evidence regarding their complaint.
The investigating officer will then investigate the complaint, having regards to the standards of reasonableness, procedural fairness and applicable laws. The investigation process may involve various methods including reviewing records, conducting interviews, making independent enquiries and seeking further information if available. The investigator will have unrestricted access to relevant information held by STEM CLUB and will only engage in lawful and procedurally fair methods of investigation.
At the resolution of the investigation, the investigator will prepare a response to the complainant providing details of the investigation conducted, evidence received, findings or conclusions derived from the evidence and any future steps to be taken in response to the complaint.
The complaint officer will review the outcome of the complaint and discuss with STEM CLUB any potential improvements or changes necessitated by the complaint. These considerations will then be forwarded to the Director for implementation.
Confidentiality
A complaint to STEM CLUB is confidential. To ensure confidentiality, STEM CLUB requests that the identification of a complaint be made clear to ensure that only the complaints officer receives the complaint.
During the course of the investigation, STEM CLUB will do its best to ensure that the identity of the complainant and the nature of the complaint are kept confidential. If the investigation requires that the name of the complainant and the scope of the investigation be revealed, then the investigating officer will only do so where essential, and any parties to whom disclosure is made, are to maintain the strictest confidence of this complaint.
Review of Response to Complaint
Should the complainant be dissatisfied with the response from the investigating officer, they may be able to lodge a complaint to external departments including but not limited to:
Should the complaint involve serious conduct that requires STEM CLUB to report the matter to an external agency as a result of its legislative or regulatory obligations, then it will do so without delay and may do so without any notice to the complainant. Any notification to an external agency, may in some circumstances may affect the investigation process conducted by STEM CLUB.
Other Policies
STEM CLUB remains committed to the continuous improvement of its business and educational services. To aid in the swift resolution of complaints and the feedback that can be attained from a complaint, this Policy is to be read in conjunction with various other policies of STEM CLUB, including:
Review of this Policy
All courses, policies, procedures, administration, systems, staffing, and other aspect of the business will be assessed and evaluated on an annual basis, or earlier if necessitated by feedback from clients or other stakeholders.
Amendments to this Policy
STEM CLUB may update, modify or remove this Policy at any time without notice, but will do so with the objective of ensuring ongoing compliance with NESA and any other statutory framework by which it is bound. Any amendments introduced will not in any way derogate from the commitment STEM CLUB has to continuous improvement and enhancing the quality of its educational services.