As a parent or carer, you can express dissatisfaction with the service or action of the Department of Education, such as the implementation (or lack thereof) of the Smart Choices Strategy within your school, including decisions made or actions taken in a school and/or by the local regional office.
The department is committed to responding to customer complaints in an accountable, transparent, timely and fair way that is compatible with human rights. For information about how the department manages customer complaints you can refer to the Customer complaints management framework, policy and procedure and the Internal review procedure online.
For customer complaints about school matters, such as Smart Choices, you are encouraged to use the following three step approach:
- Early resolution: the best place to raise any concerns is at the point where the problem or issue arose. You can make an appointment at the school to discuss your complaint with your child’s teacher or the principal. You are also welcome to lodge your complaint in writing or over the phone. You can also make a complaint through QGov.
- Internal review: if, after taking the early resolution step, you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint or how the complaint was handled, you can ask the local regional office to conduct a review. You need to submit a Request for internal review form within 28 days of receiving the complaint outcome.
- External review: if you are dissatisfied after the internal review, you may wish to contact a review authority, such as the Queensland Ombudsman or Queensland Human Rights Commission, and request an independent, external review.
Take a look at the Department of Education’s full complaint process for parents and carers as well as their Customer complaints management procedure.
