Complaints about accredited programs or providers

The AMC develops standards for medical education and training in all phases of medical education. In its processes for accreditation of programs of study, the AMC assesses education providers and their medical programs against the standards and monitors them to ensure they continue to meet the standards.

From time to time, the AMC receives complaints about the educational processes of programs and providers or organisations it has accredited or is assessing for accreditation.

In broad terms, complaints will fall into one or two categories:

    1. A personal complaint which the complainant seeks to have investigated and rectified so as to bring about a change to their personal situation. This would include, for example, matters such as selection, recognition of prior learning/experience, training post allocation, assessment outcomes, bullying, or dismissal from training.

      It is not the role of the AMC to investigate and manage personal complaints. The AMC’s accreditation standards require that providers have an effective process in place to handle such complaints. Applicants should use these processes.

    2. A systemic complaint which may evidence some systemic matter that could signify a failure of a program or provider to meet accreditation standards.

The AMC’s process for managing systemic complaints distinguishes between:

  • Complaints received during the process of conducting an assessment for accreditation. During an assessment the AMC seeks comment and feedback from a range of people or organisations associated with the program or provider being assessed. Matters which might be characterised as complaints received during an assessment process will be treated as a part of the assessment process itself.

and

  • Complaints received outside a formal assessment process, which may be relevant to the AMC’s monitoring role.

The document Complaints about programs of study, education providers and organisations accredited or being accredited by the Australian Medical Council, provides details regarding what constitutes a systemic complaint and the AMC’s processes for managing these complaints.