Before you lodge a complaint

RMIT recognises your right to raise concerns and complaints about academic, administrative and support services without fear of a negative outcome or reprisal. We consider the addressing of complaints to be an important part of RMIT’s commitment to continuous review and improvement.

However, before you lodge a complaint, please read the following information to determine:

• whether your issue is a 'concern, feedback, and enquiry' or a 'complaint'
• whether your complaint can be dealt with by the Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy, or whether there is another more suitable policy or process in place at RMIT.

A ‘concern, feedback or an enquiry’ is:

• a matter that requires action but can be addressed informally in the first instance
• a decision, action, process or service provided by RMIT that you feel would be in the University’s interest to be aware of or to address.

You should address ‘a concern, feedback or an enquiry’ with the most appropriate local area, School, College or RMIT Connect. Contacting the most appropriate area or staff member in RMIT will help your concern to be resolved as quickly and as fairly as possible. This contact can be done informally in person, in writing, or in some cases, via an online form.

If you are unsure where to go or who to contact to resolve your issue, you can find useful information and assistance by clicking below.

RMIT acknowledges sometimes things can go wrong and you may be dissatisfied with:

• administrative processes or decisions of an RMIT Group Institution
• actions by staff, students, contractors and affiliates of an RMIT Group Institution.

Before lodging a complaint about this dissatisfaction, you should try to resolve your concern informally by contacting the most appropriate area or person within RMIT. This is often the quickest and most convenient way to resolve a concern. If you are unable to resolve your concern informally, or if you feel it is not appropriate to attempt an informal resolution, you should then consider lodging a formal complaint. You can find further information and advice about how to resolve your concern informally here.

A complaint is an unresolved concern. Before lodging a complaint, you should try to resolve your concern informally.  If you do not, your complaint may be referred for an informal resolution before it can be accepted as a formal complaint. This is likely to delay any resolution. You can find further information and advice about how to lodge a formal complaint here.

What is outside the scope of the Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy and Procedure?

There are some categories of complaints that cannot be considered according to the Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy. This is because there are other policies and processes in place within RMIT designed to deal with these.

For example, a decision made under College, University Appeals, Student Conduct or assessment processes cannot be challenged via a complaint. There are separate appeals or review processes for these matters, and you should use the relevant appeals or review process if you are unhappy with an outcome and wish to challenge the decision.

You may make a complaint regarding any aspect of the appeal or review process as long as it does not relate to the decision - only the related appeal or review process is able to change the outcome. Please contact the complaints team if you require advice: telephone +61 3 9925 8863 or email complaintsadvice@rmit.edu.au.

The RMIT Policy Register contains a copy of all RMIT policy and process documents.