Make a complaint

​​The Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) manages complaints that relate to our regulatory responsibility. The regulatory role of NSSAB does not involve ownership, governance or management of non-state schools.

Read more about our role or how to make general enquiries, feedback and complaints about us​.

Complaints we can deal with

Under its policy, NSSAB requires you to raise any issues directly with the school or governing body before making a complaint to us.

Contact us if you have concerns about a non-state school or governing body and their compliance with the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017 (PDF, 930KB)​ (the Act) and the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2017.

This could include, for example:

• the governing body's suitability to govern the school
• the school's financial viability
• the school's educational program
• the school's student welfare processes
• the school's resources
• the school's improvement processes
• the school's operation for profit (if eligible for government funding)
• the school's operation before a student intake day
• a special assistance school’s use of a temporary site
• a person operating a school without accreditation or falsely claiming to be an accredited non-state school.

Complaints we cannot deal with

NSSAB is unable to deal with complaints about:

• student fees and charges, haircuts, student awards, student homework, student reports and grades, students repeating year levels, enrolments
• allocation of teachers / teacher aides or capacity to teach
• matters relating to the statutory functions of other government agencies
• matters where common law remedies are available to the complainant, such as contractual disputes.

If NSSAB can't assist with your complaint, the options below may help guide you to the right place.

Urgent matters​

• If the matter is an emergency or if the complaint relates to child safety and a child is in immediate danger or in a life-threatening situation, call Triple Zero (000).
• If the complaint relates to criminal activity, contact the Queensland Police Service.
• Other child safety or child wellbeing concerns should be reported to Child Safety Services within the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety.

Other complaints may be directed to the relevant agency or authority, including:

• State school operations—Queensland Government
• Early childhood education and operations, including kindergartens—Early Childhood Regulatory Authority, Department of Education
• Human rights matters, including disability discrimination—Australian Human Rights Commission, Queensland Human Rights Commission
• Teacher suitability, conduct, practice and registration—Queensland College of Teachers
• Health and safety matters—Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
• Unethical conduct or behaviour—Crime and Corruption Commission
• Non-state school funding—Office of Non-State Education, Department of Education
• Home schooling—Queensland Home Education, Department of Education
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) training organisations—Queensland Training Ombudsman
  
• Secondary student exchange and the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)—International Quality Schools Unit, Department of Education
• Working with children authorities (blue cards)—Blue Card Services.

Read more about key regulators of the non-state school sector or referrals to external agencies​.

Raising a complaint with a school and escalating to their governing body

1. Contact the school first by following their complaints process. You can escalate your complaint to the school's governing body if it is unresolved. It is important to give the school time to consider your complaint and make a response.
2. If you are dissatisfied with the initial outcome of your complaint, the school's policy may indicate who you could escalate to for further review. Escalation is often to the school's governing body. The governing body is responsible for the operation of the school and responsible for matters we can't deal with.

How to lodge your complaint with NSSAB

Before you make your complaint about a non-state school, please follow these steps:

1. Check the information about complaints we can deal with and complaints we cannot deal with.
2. Include the following details so that we can effectively investigate your complaint
• your name, address, and contact details
• any other information required to verify your identity.
• the school's name and location
• the issue and how it relates to non-compliance
• relevant and sufficient evidence to support the complaint, for example, copies of correspondence to and from the school, and other key documents
• relevant and sufficient evidence of how the matter has been raised with the school, the governing body and any response received
• the outcome you are seeking, noting we cannot undertake a merits review of your complaint.
3. Submit your complaint to us by
• filling in the online complaints form
• downloading, completing and emailing or posting the fillable complaints form to NSSAB. Find out how to contact us.

If you do not have internet or computer access, lodge your complaint with us by

• emailing or sending a letter to NSSAB including your contact information and sufficient evidence to support the allegation. Find out how to contact us​
  
• phoning us on (07) 3513 6773. We will help you file your complaint in writing if needed. Support services, such as translators or interpreters, will be provided on request.

Anonymous complaints

Where relevant, the board may accept anonymous complaints however it will limit our ability to assess and investigate concerns if we require further information from you as your information will be recorded as anonymous. Read about our commitment to protecting your privacy​.​

Please note that while we will keep your information confidential if requested, your identity may become obvious to the other party when we make enquiries or investigate your complaint.

How NSSAB will manage your complaint about a non-state school

An officer from the NSSAB secretariat will handle your complaint about a non-state school using the following process.

Acknowledge

We will acknowledge that we have received your complaint within 3 business days.

Assess

We will assess your complaint to establish whether:

• the complaint relates to matters that NSSAB can deal with
• the school has had an opportunity to respond to the complaint
• the allegation is supported by sufficient evidence.

Sometimes, a secretariat officer may need more information to complete their assessment. If this happens, they will contact you and/or the governing body of the school to seek further information or evidence. They will also ask for permission to share your identity with the school (if you didn’t agree to this when you made your complaint). If your concern is not something we can deal with (not related to the accreditation criteria or the Act), we will explain why we cannot investigate and, if possible, refer you to the relevant authority or agency.

Investigate

Where complaints relate to the accreditation criteria or the Act and there is sufficient evidence, NSSAB will investigate.

The investigation will focus on whether:

• the school's policies and procedures comply with the accreditation criteria and Act
• the school has followed its policy and procedure in relation to the complaint
• the school is compliant with the accreditation criteria and governing body is compliant with the Act
• any non-compliance is an isolated instance or part of a systemic pattern.

We deal with complaints as quickly as possible. The more complex or serious it is, the longer it may take to investigate. If there is a delay, we will advise you. Some complaints can take time to resolve, so we appreciate your patience.

Where the board investigates a complaint, it will determine what, if any regulatory action is appropriate using a risk-based approach. This means the board will consider the risks associated with the case and respond in a way that is proportionate to the risks. More information about the board's regulatory practices are found in its Regulatory Approach Statement which is on its website.

Notify you of an outcome

NSSAB will advise the complainant in writing of the outcome of the investigation, where appropriate.

In most cases, confidentiality provisions in the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017 limit the information that we can give you about our dealings with the school or governing body, including any compliance action that has been or may be taken.

Complaints policies and procedures

NSSAB, a NSSAB committee, a NSSAB or committee member, a person NSSAB has appointed as an authorised person

Information about how we deal with complaints about us is outlined in the:

• managing complaints about the board, a committee of the board, a member of the board or committee, or a person appointed by the board as an authorised person policy
• managing complaints about the board, a committee of the board, a member of the board or committee, or a person appointed by the board as an authorised person procedures.

Non-state schools, governing bodies or unaccredited places

More information about how we deal with complaints about non-state schools, governing bodies or unaccredited places is outlined in the:

• managing complaints about non-state schools, governing bodies or unaccredited places policy.​