Complaint & Disciplinary Policy

Any member or stakeholder who observes conduct that is considered to be a potential breach of this Code of Conduct may make a complaint to president@freeflyers.com.au. Members and stakeholders are encouraged to make a complaint so that the club can take any steps necessary to investigate the complaint and to take appropriate action.

It is important to understand that SAFA owns the SAFA Ops Manual.
This means only SAFA can investigate a breach of the Ops Manual, and decide what discipline applies
When a complaint is in regard to an alleged breach of the SAFA Operations Manual, the complainant should advise the Club, along with any supporting evidence.
The club must hand the investigation and the decision on any action in respect to aviation authority discipline to be taken, over to SAFA.
Once SAFA have made a determination about the breach, the club may also discipline the offender in relation to a code of conduct breach

How SCFF handles complaints

When we receive a complaint, the following process will be followed: Initial assessment The club management committee will meet within 7 days to review the complaint to decide whether or not:

further information is necessary to decide if it is a complaint that needs to be investigated or (where appropriate) referred to a relevant authority to investigate and discipline
whether another club official such as a Senior Safety Officer should be included in the assessment
whether or not it is a matter that should be investigated; and
whether or not the conduct (if substantiated) would amount to a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 breach. (We set each of these out in Point 3 below)

Investigation

If the management committee considers a complaint warrants an investigation, then we will:
write to the member involved informing them of the complaint made and providing details of that complaint including whether or not (if substantiated) the conduct would amount to a Level 1, 2 or 3 breach
explaining the potential outcome if the breach is substantiated
asking the member to respond to the complaint and identify any witnesses to the conduct in question so we may contact them to discuss the conduct alleged
Where witnesses are identified to us, we will contact those witnesses as part of our investigation.
Where we consider the complaint may be a Level 2 or 3 breach the member may be temporarily prevented from using and accessing club sites until the outcome of the investigation is completed
If the committee decides the matter does not need to be investigated, it will confirm with the individual who has made the complaint that on considering the complaint and the evidence provided with the complaint, it is not conduct which the management committee considers warrants an investigation.

Determine the infringement level

As a result of the investigation, the management committee will consider whether or not the conduct in question amounts to a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 infringement. The level of infringement gives guidelines to the committee for use when determining the appropriate response. Each type of infringement is detailed below

Level 1: A level 1 infringement is any infringement that is not a level 2 or 3 infringement.

Level 2: A level 2 infringement is an infringement that is not a level 3 infringement but that places the infringer’s life at risk and / or places a club flying site at risk.

Level 3: A level 3 infringement is an infringement that places a person’s life at risk where the person is a person other than the infringer

Consequences of Infringement

For a Level 1 infringement

The level of response to an infringement of this level is solely at the discretion of the club’s committee.

The pilot will be given advice and a warning.
On a second occasion and in the absence of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be issued with a ban from flying at one or more sites for which SCFF is the manager, for 1-3 months.
On a third occasion and in the absence of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be banned from flying at all sites for which SCFF is the manager for 3-6 months.

For a Level 2 infringement

The pilot will be unable to fly at any sites for which SCFF is the manager whilst an investigation takes place.
Subject to investigation, and in the absence of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be issued with a ban from flying any sites for which SCFF is the site manager, for 3-6 months.
The complaint may be reported to SAFA with the supporting evidence
On a second occasion and in the absence of of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be expelled from the club
Other clubs in SEQ will be made aware of the infringement and consequences imposed by SCFF

For a Level 3 infringement

The pilot will be unable to fly at any sites for which SCFF is the site manager whilst an investigation takes place.
Subject to investigation, and in the absence of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be banned from flying all club sites for a minimum of 6 months
The complaint, the infringement and the consequences imposed will be reported to SAFA and with the supporting evidence and the management committees of clubs in SEQ will also be made aware
On a second occasion and in the absence of of satisfactory mitigating circumstances, the pilot will be expelled from the club

In all cases the person in breach will be provided written confirmation on the findings we make in respect of the complaint. The complainant will be advised that the matter has been handled and may or may not be provided with details of the findings.

Note: If the complaint is about an individual who is not a member of the club but is a member of another club, we will notify the management committee of that club of the receipt of the complaint and provide all details of the complaint to allow that club to take any appropriate action over its member. Where the clubs’ management committees disagree on the seriousness of the infringement, the management committee of either club will refer the matter to the SAFA Operations Manager and / or Safety Manager to provide independent guidance.