How to make a complaint

What to do first

If you have concerns about your treatment by your education provider or by an agent of the provider, the first thing you must do is contact the Principal, the international student director, or another person who has been identified to you as someone that you can approach about complaints.

They will have an internal complaint process that you will need to go through before you can take your complaint any further.

The Code requires that all education providers have fair and equitable internal complaint procedures for students.

If your concerns are not resolved by your provider's internal complaint process, you can then make a complaint to the International Education Appeal Authority (IEAA).

See below for information on how to make a complaint to the IEAA.

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How to make a complaint to the IEAA

The International Education Appeal Authority (IEAA) is an independent body established to deal with complaints from international students about pastoral care aspects of advice and services received from their education provider or the provider's agent.

The IEAA enforces the standards of the Code of Practice.

If your concerns have not been resolved by your provider's internal complaint process, you can make your complaint in writing to the IEAA at:

IEAA

Tribunals Unit
Level 1, 86 Custom House Quay,
Private Bag 32001,
Panama Street,
Wellington

Phone: + 64 4 462 6660
Fax: + 64 4 462 6686
Email: ieaa@justice.govt.nz [no spam]
Website: www.minedu.govt.nz

What information you will need to provide:

Complaint Form

The Complaint Form asks you to 'Explain why you believe the Institute or School has breached its obligation(s) to you under the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students?'

A copy of the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students can be found at: www.minedu.govt.nz

Go to International Education, then For International Students and Parents and click on 'Code of Practice information for students and parents'.

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The complaint process

What the IEAA can do
The purpose of the IEAA is to adjudicate on complaints from international students. The IEAA will investigate complaints and determine if there has been a breach of the Code.

The IEAA will keep you informed of the status of your complaint once they have received it.

The IEAA has the power to impose sanctions on education providers that have committed a breach of the Code that is not a serious breach.

These sanctions include an order for restitution, publication of the breach and/or requiring that remedial action be undertaken.

The IEAA will refer complaints that are not about pastoral care to another regulatory body if appropriate.

The education provider will be given a reasonable time to remedy the breach. If the breach is not remedied within that time, the IEAA may refer the complaint to the Review Panel.

If the IEAA determine that there has been a serious breach of the Code, they will refer the complaint to the Review Panel.

What the Review Panel can do
The Review Panel can remove or suspend an education provider as a signatory to the Code. This means that the provider would not be able to take any more international students.

Only the IEAA can refer complaints to the Review Panel.