Urgent action is required to fix systemic failures in the way the ACT public education system handles complaints, says the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations.
According to the ACT Education Directorate's own Annual Report, a staggering 94% of parent and carer contacts with the Feedback and Complaints team were not even acknowledged as formal complaints.
Council's Executive Officer Veronica Elliott is deeply concerned that the Directorate is failing to listen to the concerns of parents and carers.
"Are their concerns not genuine simply because they don't fit into a narrow definition?" she asked. "Dismissing families' concerns at this scale is not just outrageous, it's deeply insulting."
Ms Elliott said the complaints system must do better to respect, listen to, and act on the experiences of families.
"Families raise concerns because they care about their children's education and wellbeing - not to cause conflict," said Ms Elliott. "When concerns are minimised, mishandled, or dismissed, trust is destroyed and opportunities for real improvement are lost."
Council is calling for two urgent reforms:
- An independent re-examination of how the Education Directorate categorises, records, and resolves complaints.
- Investment in family supports, including trialling an independent parent advocacy service.
Council hears directly from parents and carers every day. Their lived experiences navigating the system offer vital insights, that are too often missing from traditional datasets and formal reporting.
Ms Elliott said complaints are not just "problems to manage", they are critical feedback that highlight where our systems are falling short, particularly for families already facing barriers, such as parents and carers of students with disabilities.
"Complaints are not a burden to be minimised," she said. "They are a chance to do better for every student. It's time the system treated them that way."
Published: 28 April 2025
