This page carries CHT's feedback widget — a star rating and comment box. The widget is a live element and is not reproduced here.

What matters more than the widget is the distinction it hides: feedback and a complaint are different things with different legal consequences. A star rating is not a complaint, and submitting one does not start any process CHT is obliged to respond to. If you have a problem you want resolved, use the complaints process instead — see policies.

Feedback, complaints and appeals — three separate mechanisms

All three are regulated, and each does something different.

What it is What it obliges CHT to do
Feedback A comment or rating about your experience Be collected and used to inform continuous improvement
Complaint A concern you want addressed about CHT, a third party, or anyone it employs or contracts Be handled with procedural fairness, within CHT's stated timeframes, with a documented outcome
Appeal A challenge to a decision that adversely affects you All of the above, plus an avenue for review by an independent party at no or low cost

The practical rule: if you want an outcome, it is a complaint or an appeal, not feedback.

What the standards actually require

CHT is regulated by ASQA under the 2025 Outcome Standards for RTOs, where these obligations sit in Quality Area 2.

Standard 2.7 — Feedback and complaints requires an RTO to operate a complaints management system that accepts feedback and complaints about the organisation, any third parties, and any person it employs or contracts; affords procedural fairness to all parties; identifies reasonable timeframes for responding and resolving; and provides avenues for further action where a complaint is not resolved. Information about how to complain must be publicly available and easily accessible, students must be supported to complain, outcomes must be documented and communicated to all parties, and the results must feed continuous improvement.

Standard 2.8 — Appeals applies where a decision adversely affects you — an assessment outcome, an enrolment decision, a refund determination. The appeals system must afford procedural fairness, specify reasonable timeframes, and — the provision worth knowing — provide an avenue for review by an independent party if the appellant requests it, at no or low cost.

A change worth knowing about. The 2015 Standards contained a fixed rule requiring complaints to be resolved within 60 calendar days. The 2025 instrument removed that fixed rule and instead requires each RTO to identify its own reasonable timeframes. So there is no longer a single national deadline — the timeframe that applies to you is the one CHT has published. Ask for it, and check policies.

If you are an overseas student

Additional obligations apply under the National Code 2018, because CHT is CRICOS-registered (04242E). Overseas students have complaints and appeals rights under the National Code that sit alongside the Outcome Standards, and external complaint avenues exist beyond the provider.

How to actually raise something

Situation Route
You want to praise a trainer or note something that worked This feedback widget
You have a concern you want resolved Complaints process — policies
You disagree with an assessment result or other decision Appeals process — policies
Your complaint to CHT was not resolved Ask CHT for the external avenue; for overseas students, National Code routes apply
You want to raise a concern about the RTO with the regulator ASQA, at asqa.gov.au
You just want to ask a question Contact or enquiry form

Note on the last row but one: ASQA does not resolve individual disputes as an ombudsman would. It regulates the provider. Exhaust CHT's own process first — the standards require CHT to give you one.

Common questions

Does leaving a star rating start a complaint?

No. If you want a response, use the complaints process.

How long does CHT have to resolve a complaint?

Whatever timeframe CHT itself has published. The old fixed 60-day rule was removed in the 2025 Standards.

Can I appeal an assessment result?

Yes. That is precisely what Standard 2.8 covers, and you can request review by an independent party.

Will I be penalised for complaining?

The standards require procedural fairness for all parties and require students to be supported to complain.

Is my feedback anonymous?

That depends on how CHT has configured the widget. If anonymity matters to you, ask before submitting.

About the provider

Complete Hospitality Training, RTO 3722, CRICOS 04242E. Level 3, 28 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, and 410 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Contact melbourne@cht.edu.au or +61 3 9654 1554.

Standards 2.7 and 2.8 are cited from the Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2025 (F2025L00354), Schedule 1 Part 2 Division 5.

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