Student Grievances

Principles and commitments

Australian University of Theology is committed to ensuring that students who have a concern about any aspect of our higher education operations have ready access to fair, just and effective grievance processes. Specifically, this means:

  • A student may report a grievance about any aspect of the AUT’s higher education operations, including operations provided on its behalf by its Affiliated Colleges and other entities.
  • The student may do this without fear of reprisal.
  • The grievance may be about an academic or a non-academic matter.
  • There is a comprehensive process for handling and resolving grievances, which includes review by an independent third party if the process cannot resolve the dispute.

If an Affiliated College or other entity acting on behalf of the AUT does not comply with this policy, the Council of the AUT will take disciplinary action as it sees fit, with the maximum penalty being dis-affiliation and exclusion from the AUT.

Process

The process for the management of Student Grievances is outlined in full within the Grievance Resolution Policy – Students. A summary is outlined below, showing the pathway that management of student grievances follow.

National Student Ombudsman

The National Student Ombudsman is a free, impartial, and independent service for students to escalate complaints about the actions of their higher education provider. The NSO can consider a range of issues including student safety and wellbeing, racism and racial vilification, discrimination, gender-based violence, course administration, and the fairness and effectiveness of student complaints processes. For complaints that students haven’t been able to resolve or don’t feel safe talking to their Affiliated College or AUT staff about, the NSO can help. The NSO will ask students if they have raised the matter with AUT but this is not mandatory. The NSO will work with students to consider the best resolution pathway. Find out more at nso.gov.au.

Overseas Student Ombudsman

The Commonwealth Ombudsman can look into complaints from international students who are currently studying, previously studied, or are planning to study with independent education providers on a student visa.

Issues that the Commonwealth Ombudsman can look into for international students includes:

  • course fees and refunds
  • transfers between courses or providers
  • intention to report to Home Affairs for unsatisfactory course progress or attendance
  • cancellation of enrolment
  • deferment and suspension of studies
  • incorrect advice given by an education agent
  • refusing admission to a course
  • an education provider’s handling of a student’s complaint or appeal
  • Overseas Student Health Cover

See more on the Commonwealth Ombudsman website.