Competition Complaints and Grievance Policy – Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

Introduction:

The Board of Directors of the Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd is committed to supporting the decisions of its Judges in officiating at Competitions held in accordance with the Agility Regulations however this Policy provides Competitors with a means to formally obtain a review of a decision by a Judge.

Purpose:

The purpose of this Policy is to provide an avenue through which Competitors can resolve complaints or grievances involving Agility competitions.

Policy Statement:

The Board of Directors of the Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd is committed to supporting the decisions of its Judges in officiating at competitions held in accordance with the Agility Regulations however this Policy provides Competitors with a means to formally obtain a review of a decision by a Judge. All Judges and members will follow the procedures set out below.

This Policy only refers to complaints and grievances lodged by a Handler entered in an event.

Definitions:

Dog – a Dog registered on ADAA’s International Programme Register or Regular Programme Register.

Member – person who is a recognised under one of the categories of membership and is financial.

Owner – Member who is registered, by ADAA, as the Owner of a Dog.

Competition – ADAA sanctioned Competition for Titles.

Judge – Judge appointed and currently authorised to officiate at ADAA events.

Responsibilities:

Judge – to consider any properly submitted complaints and provide a response to the Competition Secretary.

Competition Secretary – to provide any properly submitted complaint to the Judge in a timely manner.

Director Judging/Judges Management Committee – After conclusion of the Competition, review all properly submitted complaints.

Procedure:

Although a Judge’s decision is final, the Judge has discretion to amend any call/decision if he/she feels that an error has been made.

A Handler may seek clarification from a Judge regarding a decision made in an event they entered in. The content of the clarification may include a judging call and/or interpretation of a Regulation. When seeking clarification the Handler must not interfere with the running of the ring, and must request to speak to the Judge via the Scribe or Scorekeeper or wait until the Judge is at a break for a course or height change, unless clarification is sought at the time the Handler is running the course. The Judge is under no obligation to act or explain the decision when a clarification is requested. Common courtesies are to be adhered to by all parties involved.

Where a Handler, who is entered in an event, believes that a Judge misinterpreted a Regulation to the extent that it has affected the issue of a Clear Round, Qualifying or International Certificate and/or placing(s), the Handler may lodge a complaint by the use of a Competition Complaint form (Complaint) accompanied by the prescribed non-refundable fee with the Competition Secretary of the Club/Group hosting the Competition within thirty minutes of the alleged incident. At the first available opportunity the Competition Secretary will hand the Complaint to the Judge who will be required to take action in accordance with this policy. The Competition Secretary will advise the Handler once the Judge has decided whether or not to amend their call/decision. A Handler may not, under any circumstances, lodge a Complaint about a subjective judging call (for example any Judge’s call that relates to a Course Fault or Refusal due to missed contact area or refusal line) and may not take further action if the Judge decides not to amend their call/decision.

A Judge has no obligation or requirement to watch any video replay that may be presented.

Where a Handler wishes to lodge a Complaint for any other reason, or if the Complaint is not lodged within 30 minutes of the alleged incident, it must be submitted directly to ADAA’s Secretary within three working days of the Competition and may not be handed to the Competition Secretary.

A Complaint may only be lodged by a Handler that competed in the particular event in which they believe the Judge made a wrong call or misinterpreted a Regulation or, in the case of a Handler under the age of 18 years, must be lodged by the Handler’s guardian. To protect the integrity of the Junior Programme, under no circumstances, will a Competition Complaint form be accepted with respect to an event within the Junior Programme.

It is the joint responsibility of the Judge and the Competition Secretary to ensure that submission of a Complaint is forwarded to ADAA’s Secretary immediately upon conclusion of the Competition.

Any Handler determined by ADAA to have lodged a frivolous or malicious complaint may be subject to disciplinary action.

Stakeholders to be consulted prior to policy change:

Board of Directors, Director Judging, Judges’ Management Committee

Date	Action (Created/Reviewed)	Created/Reviewed by	Next review due
6 July 2006	Created	Chairman	9 July 2006
9 July 2006	Approved	Board of Directors
6 December 2009	ABN Corrected	Chair
18 December 2017	Reviewed/Edited	F Miller
18 February 2018	Approved	Board of Directors
19 November 2019	Reviewed and loaded to website	Chairman
11 January 2020	Policy title updated	Chairman
31 October 2020	Reviewed	Chairman