Peter Hallinan

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

Re John Ross' "Ombudsman for international students: Senate Report" (CR 30/11/09), it’s not a case of either/or as to whether we need a single Commonwealth Ombudsman or not. Queensland has a State Ombudsman to whom CQUniversity Australia students can, but rarely do, approach after they have exhausted all internal avenues, including appeal to my Office as Student Ombudsman. CQU's Student Complaint Process and my own website clearly indicate further avenues of appeal to students with continuing concerns. Universities (such as ours) which have a Student Ombudsman or Dean of Students) deal effectively and impartially with student concerns. In the eight years I have been in this postion, there has never been the slightest hint of intrusion into the decisions made by the Office at this University. I am sure the same is true across the nation. In terms of whether the Office is doing its job – the statistics at our University speak for themselves. Student complaints or concerns have decreased from a high of 300 in 2006, to 232 in 2007, to 160 in 2008, and in the year to date, just 100 such concerns have been raised. It would be an interesting piece of research to see whether Universities which have such an effective Office of Student Ombudsman in place have a more satisfied student body than those that do not. Peter Hallinan Student Ombudsman CQUniversity Australia Rockhampton Campus