Student complaints

Make a complaint about an academic, administrative or support service at RMIT.

Student complaints process

Before you submit a student complaint

Step 1. Check if your complaint has a separate complaint procedure

Some types of complaints are subject to separate complaint procedures and policy processes at RMIT. Check the table below to see if your complaint has its own procedure and click the appropriate link to find out how to correctly submit or resolve these types of complaints.

If your complaint is not listed in the table, proceed to Step 2 (see below).

Type of complaint	What you should do
Admission	An applicant can request a review of a selection decision as outlined in the Selection Procedure. To request a review of a credit or Recognition of Prior Learning decision, refer to the Credit Procedure.
Academic progress and results	To find out how to appeal an assessment or academic progress outcome, go to Appeals.
Special consideration	To find out how to request a review of a special consideration outcome, go to Special consideration.
Student conduct	To appeal a student or academic misconduct decision, see the Appeals section of the Student Conduct Policy.
Research conduct	To make a complaint about research conduct, see the Complaints section of the relevant policy document: Research Integrity Breach Management Procedure Human Research Ethics Procedure Animal Ethics Procedure Research Involving GMOs Procedure
Privacy	See the Student Privacy Statement.

Step 2. Determine if your issue is an ‘enquiry, concern or feedback' or a 'complaint'

An enquiry, concern or feedback is defined as:

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.

If your issue is an enquiry, concern or feedback, please try to Resolve your issue informally (see next tab).

A complaint is any issue that:

You feel is inappropriate to attempt to resolve informally.
You’ve been unable to resolve informally.

If your issue is a complaint, please Submit a complaint (other tab).

Try to resolve your enquiry, concern or feedback informally

If your have an enquiry, concern or feedback (see previous tab), you should try to resolve it at a local level, if possible. This will enable it to be resolved as quickly as possible.

If it isn’t appropriate to follow this step, for example, if you don’t feel comfortable contacting staff in your School, go to Submit a complaint (next tab).

Who should I contact?

If you have a general enquiry, please see the Student Connect Self Service Portal for a list of common questions and answers. Specific enquiries on a number of topics (for example: enrolment, fees, graduation or class timetables) can also be submitted via the portal.

If your concern relates to the delivery of academic, administrative or support services, contact the area or staff member responsible. This may be a lecturer, course coordinator or program manager, or a University department such as Property Services. You may choose to raise your concern in person or in writing. If your matter relating to academic progress, assessment or university processes persists after contacting an RMIT staff member, please visit RUSU's Student Rights page. This service connects students with professionals who can support students experiencing these issues and advocate for their rights.

If you would like to provide general feedback to RMIT, positive or negative, please see the Student feedback webpages for information on ways to give feedback, including student surveys.

If you are a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) student, please see our HDR Student Complaints Guide (PDF, 230KB) for further information and advice.

If you’re unsure who to contact to resolve your issue, contact the Student Complaints team:

Call: +61 3 9925 8863 or
Email: complaintsadvice@rmit.edu.au

How to submit a student complaint

If your concern isn’t resolved informally to your satisfaction, or there’s a compelling reason why you can’t raise your concern at a local level, you can submit a formal complaint online.

When you submit your complaint, please provide the following information:

Details of the steps you've taken to try and resolve your complaint.
A clear explanation of the outcome you are seeking.
Copies of all relevant supporting documentation and evidence.

Submit a complaint

What happens next?

Your complaint will be assigned to a Student Complaints Case Manager for investigation. The Case Manager may ask you for additional information or advise that your complaint has been referred for an informal resolution before it can be accepted as a formal complaint.

You can normally expect to receive written acknowledgement within three working days of submission.

If your submission is accepted as a formal complaint, you can normally expect to receive:

Regular updates (at least every 10 working days) on the progress of the investigation from your Case Manager.
Prompt written notification, including reasons, where the complaint is expected to take more than 40 working days to resolve.

When the investigation is complete, you’ll receive a formal written complaint outcome within 20 working days of receipt of all relevant information (please note that complex cases are likely to take longer). The written notification will include advice about how to request an internal independent review if you’re not satisfied with the outcome.

Please note: You can view your original complaint submission by logging in to the Student Connect Portal (as a guest if you are not a current student).

Review process

If you're not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may be able to request a review.

There are two review stages (internal and external).

Step 1. Request an independent internal review

If you’re not satisfied with the complaint outcome, you may be able to request an internal independent review of your complaint.

To request a review, you must be able to show you meet ONE of the following criteria:

You can provide evidence of an error in the investigation and decision.
You can provide evidence that was not previously available, and which would have been a significant factor in deciding the outcome.
You can present a compelling argument that the original outcome is unreasonable. Unreasonableness may include, but is not limited to, the following considerations:
Relevance (of information taken into account).
Comprehensiveness (consideration of all evidence provided).
Justification (provision of reasons for conclusions reached).
Timeliness (in the handling of the complaint and its impact on the complainant).
Consistency (with standards and values of the University).
Proportionality (reasonableness of the outcome given the complainant’s circumstances).

Your request will be assigned to a new Student Complaints Case Manager to complete the review. The Case Manager will check you have provided evidence to show you meet the grounds for a review, and:

If not, will write to you explaining why you have not met the grounds for review.
If so, will complete the review.

You'll receive a formal written review outcome when the Case Manager has completed the review.

Step 2. Escalate to an external body

If you are dissatisfied with how your complaint has been handled, or consider that RMIT has acted unfairly, you are able to seek advice and guidance from, or make a complaint to, an external body:

Higher Education students can contact the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) by phone on 1300 395 775 or by visiting the National Student Ombudsman website
Vocational Education (TAFE) students can contact the Victorian Ombudsman (VO) by phone on 1800 806 314 or by visiting the Victorian Ombudsman website.

The NSO and the VO can consider most complaints about universities. As with other stages of the RMIT complaints process, the NSO and the VO are impartial and do not act on behalf of students or universities.

Before submitting a complaint to the NSO or the VO, you should normally follow the steps laid out in RMIT’s internal student complaints process. If you have not followed these steps, the NSO and the VO may ask you to do so before accepting your complaint. Please note, there are exceptions to this rule so please seek advice from the NSO (Higher Education students) or the VO (Vocational Education students) if you are unsure.

The NSO and the VO will look at how RMIT has responded to your complaint, including whether you have been treated fairly during the process. Please note, in most cases, the role of the external reviewer is to consider whether RMIT has followed its policies and procedures, rather than to make a decision in place of RMIT.

Student complaint FAQs

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The Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy provides a framework for current, former and prospective students to seek resolution of complaints relating to aspects of their experience or engagement with RMIT.

The Policy defines a prospective student as ‘A person engaging with RMIT for the purpose of admission or enrolment’.

If you are not a current, former or prospective student, but wish to lodge a complaint, please see RMIT Complaints for details of the other complaints processes available at RMIT (for example staff or third party complaints).

The quickest way to resolve an issue is usually to directly approach the person or local area responsible for the issue you're encountering as soon as possible

However, if you are not satisfied with the outcome you receive, or if it isn’t appropriate to attempt an informal resolution (for example, you don’t feel comfortable approaching the staff in your School about the issue) it might be appropriate to lodge a formal complaint.

It is always best to lodge a formal complaint as soon as possible after the event or incident you are complaining about. This greatly assists with the investigation process.

Please be aware that complaints received after 12 months of the event or incident occurring will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances. You should provide details of these exceptional circumstances (along with any supporting evidence) when you lodge your complaint.

RMIT is supportive of students and staff who raise concerns and complaints. We acknowledge the value of feedback for continuous improvement of the student and staff experience. RMIT will respond to all complaints promptly and sensitively, and manage complaints in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness to ensure consistent and reasonable outcomes. This means:

Each party to a complaint has the right to be heard and to respond.
All submissions and evidence will be impartially considered.
The Case Manager will not be unduly influenced by any party.

RMIT’s preferred resolutions are, wherever possible, informal, and non-adversarial, with outcomes that are fair and reasonable to all the parties involved. RMIT expects each party of a complaint to:

Act in good faith.
Recognise the rights of the other party.
Maintain respect for the other party.
Focus on resolution.

Every complaint is unique and is assessed based on its own set of circumstances and on the evidence provided and uncovered during the complaint investigation. As a result, there is no one way for a complaint to be resolved.

Where appropriate, potential outcomes may include:

amending or reversing a decision or action at the centre of a complaint
acknowledging an error and apologising
providing an explanation for a decision or action
waiving fees or making payments where appropriate

In some circumstances, it may be appropriate for RMIT and the complainant to use Deed of Settlement in resolution of a complaint to provide formality, finality and certainty for both RMIT and a complainant.

If you lodge a formal complaint online via Student Connect (see Submit a complaint tab above), you can normally expect to receive:

Written acknowledgement within three working days of submission.
A formal written complaint outcome within 20 working days of receipt of all relevant information from the complainant. Please note, where a complaint is considered complex, it is likely to exceed the 20 working day resolution timeframe. The Case Manager will provide confirmation and reasons for this assessment.
Regular updates (at least every 10 working days) on the progress of the investigation.
Prompt written notification, including reasons, where the complaint is expected to take more than 40 calendar days to resolve.

It will assist in the timely resolution of your complaint if you provide the following information when you lodge your complaint:

Details of the steps you have taken to try and resolve your complaint.
A clear explanation of the outcome you are seeking.
Copies of all relevant supporting documentation and evidence.

You can seek independent advice, information, and assistance with your complaint from RMIT University Student Union (RUSU) Student Rights. RUSU Student Rights can:

Help you understand the Student and Student-Related Complaints Policy
Guide you through the steps in the Student and Student-Related Complaints Procedure
Assist you to be assertive, respectful, and realistic when seeking outcomes
Advocate on your behalf if you are not being treated fairly or reasonably.

RUSU is an independent, free, and confidential service available to all RMIT students. If you wish to use this service, you should make an appointment with RUSU as soon as possible. You can make an appointment by contacting student.rights@rmit.edu.au or calling +61 3 9925 5004.

RUSU also offers a free, confidential drop-in space called Compass. Compass is a welfare space that can support students with any issue they may be experiencing.

Ideally, you should lodge your own complaint. Receiving a complaint in your own words helps us to understand the exact nature of your complaint, the impact it has had on you, and your desired outcome. 

You may appoint a representative (for example a parent, guardian, or sponsor) to manage the complaint on your behalf. To do so, please make this request at the time of lodging your complaint, making sure you provide your representative’s full name and contact details. Alternatively, you may provide written authority to your Student Complaints Case Manager at any time during the complaint investigation. We will then communicate with you and/or your representative (as per your instructions). 

If you are a parent or friend of an RMIT student and wish to lodge a complaint on their behalf, you must provide their written authority to do so. To protect the privacy of our students, the student will be contacted directly to confirm receipt of the complaint, and to be advised, as per the written authority, that we will communicate with their representative in relation to the complaint moving forward.  

If you are a parent or friend of an RMIT student and you wish to lodge a complaint in your own right or without the student's knowledge and/or consent, you are considered a 'third party complainant'. You may lodge your complaint by completing the Third Party Complaint Form.

Please see RMIT Complaints for further information about RMIT's complaints processes.

RMIT is committed to ensuring you will not be unfairly disadvantaged or face discrimination as a result of lodging a complaint. However, if you do wish to remain anonymous, it is possible to lodge an anonymous complaint.

There are two kinds of anonymous complaint:

Where a complainant doesn’t disclose their identity when submitting a complaint.
Where a complainant identifies themselves when submitting a complaint but asks to have their identity withheld in the resolution of the complaint.

Entirely anonymous complaints are normally only investigated where there is enough information to enable an investigation to occur and they relate to:

Serious matters involving a member of the University community, or possible risk to safety, property, or the University’s reputation.
Any incident that Government legislation requires the University to report.

Where a complainant identifies themselves but asks to have their identity withheld, the Case Manager determines whether it is possible to resolve the complaint in accordance with the principles of fairness and natural justice without revealing the identity of the complainant. If it is determined it is not possible to investigate or resolve the complaint without revealing your identity, this will be discussed with you to ascertain if you are willing to have your identity disclosed.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may be able to request a review of the complaint outcome. There are two review stages:

An internal review (undertaken by a Case Manager in the Student Complaints team who has not had any involvement with the original investigation and decision)
Escalation to an external body, such as the National Student Ombudsman (Higher Education students) or the Victorian Ombudsman (Vocational Education students).

In most cases, you will need to request an internal review before you can escalate to an external body.

Further information is available in the Review process tab above.

If you are dissatisfied with how your complaint has been handled, or consider that RMIT has acted unfairly, you are able to seek advice and guidance from, or make a complaint to, an external body such as the National Student Ombudsman (Higher Education students) or the Victorian Ombudsman (Vocational Education students).

For more information, please refer to the Review process tab above.

RMIT complies with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). The Student Privacy Statement provides guidance for the management of a student’s personal information.

Any information collected as part of a student complaint will be kept in a confidential and secure location and will not comprise part of the student’s academic file.

Please note, the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) does permit case consultation and advice seeking with expert members of the same organisation in order to understand and appropriately respond to concerns. If you have concerns about privacy, please seek advice from your Case Manager or the Student Complaints team.