As reported by The Koala (TKN051224), the Government was successful in passing the Universities Accord (National Student Ombudsman) Bill 2024 in the final Parliamentary sitting week of 2024 to establish an independent National Student Ombudsman (NSO) to investigate student complaints and resolve disputes with universities.
Yesterday, additional clarity was provided to confirm that the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, will be the National Student Ombudsman from 1 February 2025.
When the NSO announcement was first made by the Government last December, Sarah Bendall was appointed as the First Assistant Ombudsman, NSO in the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s office.
Prior to the establishment of the NSO, if international students wanted to make a complaint the Commonwealth Ombudsman could only consider complaints from those enrolled with private providers.
The types of matters students can complain to the NSO about include:
- student safety and welfare
- racism
- gender-based violence
- course administration
- disciplinary processes
- reasonable adjustments
