Complaints and escalation

#01Purpose and status

This page explains how to make a complaint to ACADEMYSHIP PTY LTD (ACN 698 283 448, ABN 89 698 283 448) ("Academyship", "we", "us"), where different kinds of complaint go, how we handle them, and which outside bodies can help.

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction with Academyship, our platform, our people, our decisions or the way we have handled a matter, where you expect a response. You do not need to use the word "complaint", although saying so helps us route it correctly. A request for help with a fault is usually a support request. If it is not resolved, or you are unhappy with how it was handled, it can become a complaint.

Academyship provides software to education institutions ("Institutions"). Institutions make their own educational, disciplinary, financial, employment and safeguarding decisions. This page explains which complaints Academyship can decide, which belong with the Institution, and when you can come to Academyship directly even though an Institution is involved.

This page is information about our process. It is not a contract, and it does not limit any right you have under law. Capitalised terms such as Institution, User, Customer Data and Fees have the meanings given in the Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy and the Data Processing Addendum. "Institution Charges" means amounts an Institution charges its students, payers or others, such as tuition, instalments, canteen purchases, library fines or booking fees.

#02Start here: one address

Some matters reach the right people faster through a specialist address, listed in section 3. A complaint sent to any of these addresses is handled as a complaint under this page when you tell us it is one:

• complaints@academyship.com.au for any complaint, including a complaint about Academyship itself or its staff;
• privacy@academyship.com.au for privacy concerns and requests;
• security@academyship.com.au for suspected security incidents, unauthorised access and vulnerabilities;
• safety@academyship.com.au for child-safety and online-safety concerns;
• accessibility@academyship.com.au for accessibility problems and requests for help or another format; and
• support@academyship.com.au for platform faults and service problems.

#03Where your complaint goes

If your complaint has more than one part, for example a privacy problem caused by a platform fault, send it once. We will coordinate the parts internally and give you one point of contact.

#04Complaints about an Institution's decisions

Your Institution, such as your school, college, university, training organisation or employer, decides things like results, discipline, enrolment, fees and refunds, credentials, pay, and who can see your records. Those decisions are made by the Institution using Academyship's software. Academyship cannot overturn them, and we are not an appeal body for them.

For a complaint about an Institution's decision, use the Institution's own complaints or appeals process first, unless section 5 applies. The Institution's privacy notice and policies should explain how.

Academyship can still help where the platform is part of the problem. We can check whether the platform worked correctly (for example, whether a calculation, a notification or a visibility setting behaved as configured), fix faults in our software, investigate whether a record was accessed or shown to the wrong people, and act on misuse of the platform. Where it is lawful and appropriate, we can confirm to you or the Institution that a platform fault occurred, which may help with your complaint to the Institution.

#05When the Institution itself is involved

You can come to Academyship directly, without going through the Institution first, when:

• your concern is that the Institution or its staff are misusing the platform, for example accessing records without a proper reason, sharing records with people who should not see them, or using messages or comments to harass someone;
• a child-safety or online-safety concern involving the platform relates to the Institution's staff, or you believe the Institution is not acting on it;
• you cannot get access to, or correction of, information because of something the platform is doing rather than a decision the Institution has made; or
• you are a student and you do not feel safe raising the concern with the Institution or the adult you are worried about.

In those cases, depending on the circumstances, the information available and the law, we may investigate misuse of the platform under the Acceptable Use Policy, restrict access to an account, feature or content where technically possible and lawful, preserve relevant records, raise the matter with the Institution's leadership or authorised contacts rather than with the person you are concerned about, and refer the matter to police or another authority where required or permitted by law.

We will not send your complaint to the person you are complaining about. Before we share your identity with the Institution, we will tell you, unless doing so would put someone at risk or the law prevents it. If we cannot look into your concern without identifying you, we will explain that and let you decide how to proceed, unless someone's safety requires us to act.

Academyship cannot make the Institution's safeguarding, employment or educational decisions for it, and we do not replace a regulator. If you are worried about how an Institution is meeting its legal duties, you can also go directly to the relevant authority (section 15).

#06How to make a complaint

• Email: complaints@academyship.com.au, or a specialist address in section 2.
• Phone: +61 481 810 181, if you cannot easily make your complaint in writing. We can write it down with you and read it back to you.
• Post: Complaints, ACADEMYSHIP PTY LTD, Unit 44, 3-7 Fetherstone Street, Bankstown NSW 2200, Australia.

You do not need a form or special wording. Write in your own words, in whatever way suits you. Making a complaint is free.

#07What to include, and what not to send

It helps if you can tell us, where you know it and it is safe to share:

• your name and how you would like us to contact you, including whether it is safe to use a particular email address or phone number;
• the Institution involved, if any;
• what happened, when, and which part of the platform was involved;
• who was affected, and whether anyone is at risk now;
• what you have already done, including any reference number from the Institution or our support team;
• what outcome you are looking for; and
• any help you need to take part in the process, such as a different format, more time or an interpreter.

You do not need every item before we will accept your complaint. We will ask for more if we need it.

#08Help, representatives and anonymous complaints

Help to make a complaint

If you need help, tell us. We can accept a complaint by phone, give you more time, communicate in a format that suits you, and provide this page or our response in another format. If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, you can email us or call us through the National Relay Service. If English is not your first language, you can write to us in your own language or tell us you need an interpreter, and we will work out with you how best to communicate. For accessibility help, contact accessibility@academyship.com.au.

Someone complaining for you

A parent, guardian, carer, advocate, support person, lawyer or other representative can complain on your behalf. Before we share your personal information with them, we may need to confirm that you have agreed or that they are legally entitled to act for you. A parent or guardian is not automatically entitled to an adult learner's information.

Anonymous and confidential complaints

You can make a complaint without giving your name where that is practicable, and you can use a pseudonym. We will still assess it. Without contact details we cannot reply to you, and limited information may restrict what we can investigate. You can also give us your name but ask us not to share it with the Institution or others. We will respect that where we can, and will tell you if we cannot investigate without sharing it (section 5).

#09Checking who you are

We do not need proof of identity to accept a complaint or to answer a general question. We will check identity only where it is necessary, for example before we disclose personal information, change an account or act on a request about records, and only in a way that is proportionate to the risk. Usually we do this by confirming details we already hold, by replying to a contact address already linked to the account, or, where appropriate and safe, by asking the Institution to confirm. We will never ask for your password. We will ask for a copy of an identity document only if there is no less intrusive way, will tell you how to send it securely, and will not keep it longer than we need to.

#10Acknowledgement and triage

When we receive a complaint, we assess its urgency first. Matters involving a risk to someone's safety, an active security incident or a possible privacy breach are prioritised and may be acted on before we send a formal acknowledgement.

We acknowledge a complaint within 24 hours of receiving it, and usually within a few hours. Within 24 hours, we also give you either an outcome or an update explaining what is still being done and when you will hear from us next. These timeframes are targets, not legal deadlines. Some complaints take longer to resolve, and if yours does we will tell you why and keep you updated. Separate legal timeframes apply to some requests: for example, requests to access or correct personal information Academyship holds are answered within the timeframes required by the Privacy Act.

Our acknowledgement tells you who is handling your complaint and how to contact them. If part of your complaint belongs with the Institution, we will tell you which part, why, and how to raise it, and we will continue with the parts that belong to us.

If your complaint suggests that personal information may have been compromised, we also handle it under our incident and data-breach process. Where a Personal Data Breach affects an Institution's Customer Data, Academyship notifies the affected Institution as the DPA requires: without undue delay and no later than 72 hours after becoming aware that its Customer Data has been affected. That contractual notice is separate from the assessments and notifications the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

#11Fair handling and conflicts of interest

We handle complaints fairly, impartially and respectfully. Your complaint will not be decided by a person whose conduct or decision you are complaining about, or who has a personal interest in the outcome. If your complaint is about a person who would normally handle it, or you think someone handling your complaint has a conflict of interest, send it to complaints@academyship.com.au and say so. Your complaint will then be handled by someone who is not involved in the matter. If there is no suitably independent person within Academyship, we may ask an external adviser to help.

Academyship's commercial relationship with an Institution does not decide the outcome of a complaint about safety, privacy, security or misuse of the platform.

#12Investigation and updates

The steps we take depend on the complaint. They may include asking you for more information, reviewing relevant platform records and logs, speaking with the people involved, and asking the Institution for information. Where someone is the subject of a complaint, we will generally give them a fair opportunity to respond before reaching a view about their conduct, unless that would put someone at risk or prejudice an investigation by an authority.

Some technical records are kept only for a limited period. Infrastructure and security logs, for example, are kept for 30 days. When we receive a complaint, we take steps to preserve the relevant records we still hold, so they remain available while the complaint and any review are open. Raising a concern promptly helps us find the relevant records.

We will keep you informed of progress, tell you if we need more time and why, and tell you if the person handling your complaint changes. There may be limits on what we can tell you while a matter is open, for example to protect someone's safety or privacy or an investigation by an authority.

#13Outcome, reasons and putting things right

When we have finished, we will give you our outcome in writing, or in another format if you need one. It will explain what we found, what we have decided and why, what we will do, and your options if you are not satisfied, including internal review and external bodies. If we cannot share some details, for example because they are another person's personal information or would create a security risk, we will say so.

Where we find that Academyship got something wrong, we will try to put it right. Depending on the complaint, that may include:

• an explanation and an apology;
• fixing a platform fault, or correcting a record Academyship controls;
• restoring access that was wrongly removed;
• helping the Institution correct a record affected by a platform fault;
• a refund or credit of Academyship's Fees, where the Terms, an Order Form, the Australian Consumer Law or our decision on the complaint provides for one;
• changing a process, a default setting or guidance so the problem does not recur;
• dealing with the conduct of our personnel; and
• notifying affected people or authorities, where required or appropriate.

Academyship cannot refund Institution Charges or reverse an Institution's decision. Where a platform fault caused an incorrect payment, we will work with the Institution and the payment provider to identify and correct it.

#14Asking for an internal review

If you are not satisfied with our outcome or how your complaint was handled, you can ask for an internal review by writing to complaints@academyship.com.au. Tell us what you disagree with and why. The review will be carried out by someone more senior who was not involved in the original handling, or, where that is not possible, with the help of an external adviser. They will look at the complaint afresh and give you a written outcome with reasons.

You do not have to ask for an internal review before going to an external body.

#15External options

You can contact an external body at any time. Some of them usually expect you to have complained to the organisation first and given it a reasonable opportunity to respond, and each has its own rules about what it can deal with and time limits. Check the body's website for current requirements. Academyship is not affiliated with these bodies and does not control their processes.

If you live outside Australia, you may also have rights under your local law, including complaints to a local data-protection or consumer regulator. The governing-law terms in Academyship's contracts do not remove rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

#16Criticism, abusive content and unreasonable conduct

Criticism is welcome

We will not refuse or downgrade a complaint because it is critical, strongly worded, repeated, or has also been made publicly. We will not ask you to remove a review, keep your complaint confidential, or agree not to criticise Academyship as a condition of resolving your complaint. Nothing in this process limits protected disclosures under whistleblower laws, reports to regulators or authorities, or legal action.

Content you believe is defamatory or unlawful

If you believe content on the platform is defamatory, harassing or otherwise unlawful, tell the Institution that controls the workspace and contact support@academyship.com.au or complaints@academyship.com.au. The Institution moderates its own content. Academyship assesses reports under the Acceptable Use Policy and may restrict or remove content where it is technically possible and lawful, or where a court or authority requires it. We do not decide legal claims between other people, and we will not remove content merely because it is critical of Academyship or an Institution.

Abusive or unreasonable conduct towards our staff

We expect our staff to be treated with courtesy, and we will treat you the same way. If contact becomes abusive, threatening or harassing, we may limit how we communicate, for example by asking you to communicate only in writing through one address. We will tell you what the limit is, why, and how long it will last, and we will still consider the substance of your complaint. Threats of harm may be reported to police.

#17Privacy and records of your complaint

Academyship collects the information in your complaint to handle the complaint, to review how it was handled, to identify and fix recurring problems, and to meet its legal obligations. If you do not give us enough information, we may not be able to investigate fully or to reply to you.

We share information about your complaint only where needed to deal with it, for example with the Institution involved, with the person complained about (generally without identifying you, where that is possible and appropriate), with our professional advisers, or with an authority where required or permitted by law. Section 5 explains how we handle your identity when an Institution is involved.

We keep a record of each complaint, the steps taken and the outcome, with access limited to the people who need it. Complaint records are kept and then deleted or de-identified as described in the Data Retention, Export and Deletion page. You can ask to see or correct the information we hold about you through privacy@academyship.com.au. The Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information generally.

#18No retaliation

Academyship will not retaliate against anyone for making a complaint, raising a concern, helping someone else to complain, or giving information about a complaint in good faith. That includes not restricting their access, not treating them less favourably and not disclosing their identity unnecessarily. For an Institution customer, raising a complaint does not affect its standing with us.

Institutions must not punish students, staff or others for raising concerns in good faith. If you experience retaliation for a concern involving the platform, tell us. Using the platform to retaliate against a person who has reported a concern breaches the Acceptable Use Policy.

A complaint that cannot be substantiated is not a false complaint. Only a knowingly false complaint made to harass someone or to obstruct an investigation may lead to action under the Acceptable Use Policy.

#19Institution customers: complaints and contract disputes

Authorised contacts of an Institution customer can use this process for complaints about Academyship's service, people or billing. A complaint is not a formal legal notice under the agreement. If a notice or time limit in your agreement matters, give the notice the agreement requires, as set out in section 32 of the Terms of Service, as well as making a complaint.

The Terms already provide some specific protections that continue to apply alongside this page. For example, an Institution may dispute an Active Student count within 30 days after the relevant invoice (Terms section 11), and Academyship will not withhold access to an otherwise available Customer Data export solely because of a good-faith billing dispute (Terms section 23).

#20Learning from complaints

We review complaints regularly to find recurring problems and improve our platform, documents, support and processes. Academyship's management is responsible for this process and reviews complaint trends. When we use complaints to identify trends, we use summaries that do not identify the people involved.

#21Contact, related documents and change history

Complaints: complaints@academyship.com.au. Privacy: privacy@academyship.com.au. Security: security@academyship.com.au. Child safety: safety@academyship.com.au. Accessibility and alternative formats: accessibility@academyship.com.au. Support: support@academyship.com.au.

We review this page at least annually, and whenever our complaint channels or process change. Earlier versions are kept, and changes are listed below.

Support Privacy Policy Child Safety Accessibility Security Disclosure Acceptable Use Policy Terms of Service Data Retention Student Privacy Guide