This is part of a mandated policy under the operational policy framework. Any edits to this policy must follow the process outlined on the creating, updating and deleting operational policies page (staff login required).

The complaint management policy does not apply to matters that are subject to judicial determination, or determination by a statutory authority. This includes:

• child protection proceedings including court orders per the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017
• proceedings that have been brought before the Equal Opportunity Commission or the Australian Human Rights Commission
• matters that are under investigation by Ombudsman SA.

Minister for Education, Chief Executive or delegated authority

The policy does not apply to decisions by the Minister for Education, Chief Executive or delegated authority, made under a legislative instrument. This includes exclusions and expulsions, and control of trespass and misbehaviour on school premises as per the Education and Children's Services Regulations 2020. An appeal to the relevant authority may be made for exclusions and expulsions.

Non-Department for Education staff

The policy does not apply to non-Department for Education staff such as:

• governing and school councils, refer to the school level policy and procedure or the governing council glossary of terms for more information
• employees of governing councils
• external agencies who may be using Department for Education premises.

Other matters out of scope

The policy does not apply to matters:

• subject to civil litigation
• of student non-attendance, refer to the attendance policy for more information
• of employee disputes and grievances, or complaints of misconduct by staff, volunteers and services providers. These are managed through the complaint resolution for employees policy (staff login required) and procedures (staff login required).

Extreme incidents

Incidents categorised of extreme seriousness/severity are managed by the Incident Management Directorate (staff login required).

Policy information

This information is part of the complaint management policy v2.3.