Common use of COMPLAINTS HANDLING Clause in Contracts

COMPLAINTS HANDLING. The RTO acknowledges and agrees that it will respond to and co-operate in good faith with any complaints handling mechanism or process established by the Department from time to time, for the purpose of resolving student complaints or other issues in relation to the RTO’s delivery of Training Services. CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY The RTO must not, without the prior written approval of the Department, disclose (or permit the disclosure of) information regarding this VET Funding Contract (including details of the Funds being provided by the Department in respect of any Eligible Individual) or any Confidential Information of the Department, the Department or the State, except: to the extent required under this VET Funding Contract; to the extent required by Law; to the extent that the information is already in the public domain (other than due to a breach of this VET Funding Contract); to its solicitors, barristers and/or other professional advisors in order to obtain advice in relation to its rights under this VET Funding Contract, the Training Services or the Funds and provided such advisors are under a duty of confidentiality; to the extent necessary for the registration or recording of documents where required; and/or to the extent required in connection with legal proceedings; and then only to the extent strictly necessary for that purpose. The RTO acknowledges and agrees that: the Department at its discretion may disclose any and all information relating to the RTO and this VET Funding Contract including course and qualification details, government subsidised fee information, details of the Funds paid, details of any non-compliance by the RTO with this VET Funding Contract, any action taken by the Department under this VET Funding Contract, and findings and outcomes of any audits or reviews undertaken pursuant to this VET Funding Contract; the Department may make a disclosure referred to in (a), and regarding any suspected non-compliance by the RTO, to the MMU; disclosure by the Department of information regarding this VET Funding Contract (including details of the Funds paid) or any Confidential Information of the RTO may be required in certain circumstances; and it consents to such disclosure and, if required, will use all reasonable endeavours to assist the Department in meeting any of its disclosure obligations including, without limitation: in connection with permitted re-tendering or any benchmarking or market testing; under the Freedom of Information Xxx 0000; under the Xxxxxxxxx Xxx 0000; or to satisfy the disclosure requirements of the Victorian Auditor-General under the Audit Xxx 0000 or of Parliamentary accountability or in the case of a Minister to fulfil their duties of office. For the avoidance of doubt, a disclosure under Clause 13.2 may be to an entity including, but not limited to, the following entities: the equivalent of the Department in another State or Territory; any relevant government department; the Department; or a regulator. The RTO acknowledges that it will be bound by the Information Privacy Principles and any applicable Code of Practice with respect to any act done or practice engaged in by the RTO under or in connection with this VET Funding Contract in the same way and to the same extent as the Department would have been bound had it been directly done or engaged in by the Department. The RTO must include a standard privacy notice in all enrolment forms, in accordance with the Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines, which advises students how their data may be supplied to and used by the Department and Commonwealth VET Fee-Help agencies.

COMPLAINTS HANDLING. 12.1. The RTO acknowledges and agrees that it will respond to and co-operate in good faith with any complaints handling mechanism or process established by the Department from time to time, for the purpose of resolving student complaints or other issues in relation to the RTO’s delivery of Training Services. CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY The RTO must not, without the prior written approval of the Department, disclose (or permit the disclosure of) information regarding this VET Funding Contract (including details of the Funds being provided by the Department in respect of any Eligible Individual) or any Confidential Information of the Department, the Department or the State, except: to the extent required under this VET Funding Contract; to the extent required by Law; to the extent that the information is already in the public domain (other than due to a breach of this VET Funding Contract); to its solicitors, barristers and/or other professional advisors in order to obtain advice in relation to its rights under this VET Funding Contract, the Training Services or the Funds and provided such advisors are under a duty of confidentiality; to the extent necessary for the registration or recording of documents where required; and/or to the extent required in connection with legal proceedings; and then only to the extent strictly necessary for that purpose. The RTO acknowledges and agrees that: the Department at its discretion may disclose any and all information relating to the RTO and this VET Funding Contract including course and qualification details, government subsidised fee information, details of the Funds paid, details of any non-compliance by the RTO with this VET Funding Contract, any action taken by the Department under this VET Funding Contract, and findings and outcomes of any audits or reviews undertaken pursuant to this VET Funding Contract; the Department may make a disclosure referred to in (a), and regarding any suspected non-compliance by the RTO, to the MMU; disclosure by the Department of information regarding this VET Funding Contract (including details of the Funds paid) or any Confidential Information of the RTO may be required in certain circumstances; and it consents to such disclosure and, if required, will use all reasonable endeavours to assist the Department in meeting any of its disclosure obligations including, without limitation: in connection with permitted re-tendering or any benchmarking or market testing; under the Freedom of Information Xxx 0000Act 1982; under the Xxxxxxxxx Xxx 0000Ombudsman Act 1973; or to satisfy the disclosure requirements of the Victorian Auditor-General under the Audit Xxx 0000 Act 1994 or of Parliamentary accountability or in the case of a Minister to fulfil their duties of office. For the avoidance of doubt, a disclosure under Clause 13.2 may be to an entity including, but not limited to, the following entities: the equivalent of the Department in another State or Territory; any relevant government department; the Department; or a regulator. The RTO acknowledges that it will be bound by the Information Privacy Principles and any applicable Code of Practice with respect to any act done or practice engaged in by the RTO under or in connection with this VET Funding Contract in the same way and to the same extent as the Department would have been bound had it been directly done or engaged in by the Department. The RTO must include a standard privacy notice in all enrolment forms, in accordance with the Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines, which advises students how their data may be supplied to and used by the Department and Commonwealth VET Fee-Help agencies.. LIABILITY, INDEMNITY AND INSURANCE The RTO acknowledges that: the State, its servants and agents are not responsible at any time for any liabilities incurred or entered into by the RTO as a result of, or arising from, the RTO's rights and obligations under this VET Funding Contract or in relation to provision of the Training Services to Eligible Individuals; and it is the RTO's responsibility to carry out its obligations under this VET Funding Contract, receive Funds and to provide the Training Services to Eligible Individuals at its own risk. The RTO indemnifies (and must keep indemnified) the Department, the State and its employees, servants and agents (referred to in this Clause as 'those indemnified') against all Losses sustained or incurred by those indemnified and arising out of or relating to any death or injury to a person, damage to property or other loss caused (or to the extent contributed) by any act or omission of the RTO, its employees, servants, subcontractors or agents in connection with this VET Funding Contract or the Training Services. The RTO's liability to indemnify the Department under Clause 14.2 will be reduced proportionally to the extent that any negligent, reckless, wilful or unlawful act or omission on the part of those indemnified directly caused the relevant Loss. The RTO must, at its own expense: take out and maintain until 7 years after expiry of the Term all appropriate insurances at an adequate level to cover the provision of the Training Services to Eligible Individuals and any risk, loss or damage arising out of or caused by the performance of those Training Services, including insurance for workers compensation, public liability, professional liability, professional indemnity and property; ensure that the insurances are taken out and maintained with reputable insurers; comply with all relevant insurance requirements, including conducting and improving relevant risk management practices and incident notification processes; provide copies of insurance certificates of currency, including details of limits on cover, to the Department upon request; and promptly notify the Department if any insurance is cancelled, or any insurance details change. NOTICES AND REPRESENTATIVES A notice issued under this VET Funding Contract by a Party (Notice) must be: in writing; signed by or on behalf of the Party giving it; and hand delivered or sent by pre paid post (airmail if posted to or from a place outside Australia) to the recipient's address for Notices specified on offer and acceptance documentation relating to this VET Funding Contract (as varied by any notice given by the recipient to the sender). A Notice takes effect from the time it is received, unless a later time is specified in it. A Notice will be deemed to have been received by the addressee: in the case of hand delivery, at the time of delivery; or in the case of pre paid post, on the second Business Day (or seventh Business Day if posted to or from a place outside Australia) after posting. The authorised representative of each Party who will be responsible for issuing and receiving Notices under this VET Funding Contract are as follows: the Department’s representative is the Executive Director or the Deputy Secretary, the Department; and the RTO’s representative is the CEO. DISPUTE RESOLUTION The Parties must attempt to resolve any disputes or differences prior to employing the dispute resolution procedure provided for in this clause. A Party claiming that a dispute or disagreement has arisen under this VET Funding Contract must give a notice to the other Party specifying the nature of the dispute. A dispute notice may be withdrawn at any time by the Party that gave the notice. Within 10 Business Days of the date of issue of the dispute notice, the Parties must enter into good faith discussions in an attempt to resolve the issues between them and must not unreasonably delay or hinder the dispute resolution process provided for under this clause. If the Parties have not resolved the dispute within 20 Business Days of the date of issue of the Dispute Notice, either Party may refer the dispute to the Minister or the Minister’s nominee. The Parties acknowledge and agree that the Minister or the Minister’s nominee may: provide written directions to the Parties as to the resolution of the dispute; or make such other decisions as the Minister or the Minister’s nominee considers appropriate. Any decision of the Minister or the Minister’s nominee that constitutes a written direction by the Minister or the Minister’s nominee to a Party to a dispute will be taken to be conclusive and binding on that Party. The Parties must continue to perform their respective obligations under this VET Funding Contract during a dispute. This Clause 16 does not affect the rights of the Department, which includes all of its rights and its right to terminate this VET Funding Contract. This Clause 16 does not apply to Clause 10 or Clause 18 of this VET Funding Contract, or Clause 13 of Schedule 1. ENFORCEMENT The Department may take one or more of the actions in Clause 17.2 if: a) the RTO has breached, or the Department reasonably suspects that the RTO has breached or may breach a clause of this VET Funding Contract; or b) an event referred to in Clause 18.3 has occurred, or the Department reasonably suspects that such an event has occurred or may occur; or c) the Department becomes aware of what it considers to be an irregularity or inconsistency regarding the RTO's operations, reporting or other obligations under this VET Funding Contract, which the RTO fails to explain to the Department's reasonable satisfaction in the time required by the Department; or d) the Department becomes aware of any communication, representation or step taken by XXXX or VRQA that indicates that ASQA or VRQA has formed an adverse view in relation to the RTO, or which the Department considers will impair the RTO's performance of this VET Funding Contract; or e) the RTO has breached an obligation to make a payment to the Department under any earlier agreement between the Parties with respect to the Victorian Training Guarantee Program and/or the Skills for Victoria Program, whether or not such amounts comprise a refund of funds previously paid by the Department or any interest, penalty, or other moneys. The Department may by written notice: direct the RTO to suspend part or all of the provision of Training Services under this VET Funding Contract (whether in respect of one Eligible Individual, a group of Eligible Individuals or all Eligible Individuals);