CODES OF PRACTICE, POLICIES & PROCEDURES

Australian Yoga Academy (AYA) is the owner of the codes of practice, policies and procedures outlined in this document. Any questions regarding information contained within this document should be directed to the owners of AYA, Melanie Mackintosh and Adele Conti at info@australianyogaacademy.com or by phoning +61 3 9510 7474. These codes of practice and policies were last updated in Jan 2023.

CODES OF PRACTICE

Introduction
AYA provides this Code of Practice as our commitment to acceptable, ethical and professional behaviour. We ask that all of our teachers, lecturers, visiting teachers, students, teacher trainees, consultants, therapists and visitors must agree to conduct their activities at AYA in accordance with this code.

Standards of Professional Conduct
At AYA, we demand that our teachers and lecturers maintain high standards of professional conduct and competence at all times, this includes:

Adhering to all guidelines and policies provided in this document
Maintaining required levels of accreditation with registered peak body, if needed
Maintaining appropriate levels of professional indemnity and public liability insurance
Maintaining appropriate levels of First Aid and CPR accreditation
Maintaining any other levels of accreditation required to teach or learn at AYA, such as Working With Children Check, NDIS Check or Police Check
Being committed to ongoing continuing professional development that is appropriate for their level of teaching

Student/Teacher & Lecturer Relationships
Professional relationships between teachers/lecturers and students must be maintained at all times, based on:

The laws in Australia governing personal and professional relationships such as, but not limited to, sexual conduct, negligence, bullying, discrimination, harassment etc.
Mutual respect, honesty and inclusivity regardless of age, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or economic position
Safe and appropriate for the age, gender, nationality, cultural background and experience of the student
Equality of attention and assistance to all students

Professional Conduct
At AYA, we all agree to teach and interact with all of our students and visitors (and fellow teachers) with the utmost respect, professionalism, and concern for everyone’s safety and wellbeing. This includes acting in the following ways:

Behaving to a high standard in all personal interactions, with professional competence and integrity
Complying with all areas of employment law
Not giving advice or guidance in any areas that one is not qualified to do so
Being open to the traditions and teachings of other teachers, schools and lineages
Engaging in appropriate personal relationships inside and outside the classroom
Helping all students to respect each other and to act in accordance with the above points to enhance the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of everyone
Teaching in a safe and appropriate way, respecting where each student is at with their practice

This also includes treating everyone at AYA with:

Respect, dignity and inclusivity regardless of physical, mental or emotional disabilities
Respect for an individual’s beliefs, even if they differ from one’s own beliefs
Concern for everyone’s safety from an OH&S perspective
Concern for everyone who practises at AYA, that they do so appropriately for their level of experience

Confidentiality
Australian Privacy laws are strict and therefore, everyone ay AYA who is in the position of gathering personal information must:

Store student records and information in a safe and private manner
Dispose of student records in a safe and private manner
Keep any information that has been obtained privately, confidential from anyone else who is not permitted to be made aware of this
Unless it is unlawful to not divulge personal information, (such as in the case of Child Safety or concern over a person’s safety either from self-harm or harm to them from others), all information shared confidentially with a teacher or lecturer, must be kept confidential
Ensure consent is obtained from students and anyone else whose image may be recorded or captured during the course of training, teaching or visiting AYA. Ensure that these individuals provide written consent to their images being used in advertising, social media or any publications.

RACE, DISCRIMINATION & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICY

At AYA, everyone is welcome to practice yoga, apply to learn to teach yoga and apply to work at AYA, provided they adhere to the details outlined in the codes of practice and policies contained within this document.

In the case of applying to learn to teach yoga, applicants must be able to demonstrate a minimum of one years’ consistent yoga practice, pay for their tuition fees and be able to fulfil the other requirements of successful completion of yoga teacher training.

In the case of applying to work with AYA, applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are suitably qualified for the role that they are applying for, in order to be reasonably considered.

No one at AYA is permitted to discriminate or act unlawfully towards each other on the grounds of:

Race
Ethnicity
Cultural background
Religion
Socio-economic status
Marital status
Gender
Sexual orientation
Disability or ability

This policy extends to all teachers, lecturers, consultants, therapists, students, contractors, visitors and anyone else who engages with us at AYA. Anyone who is seen to be acting in contravening this policy may issue a grievance to the management of AYA, in accordance with the Grievance Policy outlined in this document.

CODE OF ETHICS POLICY

At AYA, we approach our teaching using the ancient sage, Patanjali and his writings on the Eight Limbs of Yoga, as our guide.

This Code of Ethics includes all the behavioural expectations as outlined within this whole document, as well as Panatjali’s yamas and niyamas.

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY

At AYA, we are serious about protecting the privacy of our students and we think carefully about what personal information is collected, how we may use or disclose personal information, and the steps we take to ensure that personal information is kept secure. In this policy, “personal information” is any information or opinion, in any form, which identifies an individual or from which an individual’s identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained.

By accessing the AYA website and/or giving us information, our clients indicate their consent to us, and any other organisations, third party suppliers and agents we engage or employ from time to time, to collect and use your personal information in accordance with the terms set out in this policy.

What information do we collect?
We only collect personal information that helps us to:

conduct our business
develop and promote our services
assists us with complying with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Consequently, we may collect personal information about you from our registration forms, website, telephone conversations, e-mails, social media interactions and other written and verbal communications. Personal information may include, but is not limited to: name, date of birth, medical conditions that you disclose to us, occupation, address, telephone numbers, e-mail address, social media addresses, banking details and interests.

How will we use your information?
We will primarily use personal information to conduct our business and provide our services to you, to communicate with you, for record keeping purposes, to improve the quality of our services, for market research, and to track activity in our studios and on our website. We will use your personal information lawfully.

Disclosure of your information
From time to time, we may ask a third party to help us to carry out our business. These third parties may have access to information needed to perform their function but cannot use that information for other purposes.

Cookies
We may use “cookies” on our website. Cookies that are used in any part of our website will not be utilised for collecting personally identifiable information and will only be used for internal management purposes. Normally, you can change your browser to prevent cookies being stored. Please note, if you do turn cookies off this may limit the service that we are able to provide to you. We do not store any information that identifies you inside cookies.

Security of information
We take the security of your personal information seriously. We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is treated confidentially, kept secure and protected against unauthorised use and is maintained only for the purpose for which it is intended.

Please be aware that the internet is not a secure environment. If you use the internet to send us any information, including your email address, it is sent at your own risk.

Updating and correcting information
We take reasonable steps to correct the information we hold if the information is not accurate, up-to-date and complete. You may correct your personal information by e-mailing us. We encourage you to update your personal information promptly if it changes.

Your rights to access your personal information
You have the right to access your personal information held by us, subject to some exceptions under current privacy legislation.

Links
Please note our website contains links to other websites which are provided for your convenience. We are not responsible for the privacy practices and security of any other websites. We recommend that you check the privacy policies and procedures of other websites that you visit.

How to contact us
If you would like any further information, have any comments about our privacy policy or any other aspect of our website or service or if you have any comment, complaint or question on any privacy issue, please e-mail us.

Changes to this privacy policy
We may change our privacy policy. Accordingly we recommend that you check this page from time to time on our website in order to review our current policy.

GRIEVANCE & COMPLAINTS POLICY & PROCEDURES

Everyone at AYA has the right to raise a grievance (generally based on unlawful behaviour or wrong-doing suffered) or a complaint (general dissatisfaction with service, a situation or behaviour). We will deal with any grievance or complaint courteously and so that the person raising the grievance or complaint may do so without fear of recrimination. Grievances or complaints may be raised about the quality of service received, quality of teaching, professional misconduct or negligence. We will do everything required to resolve the grievance or complaints fairly, transparently and in a timely manner.

When a grievance or complaint is raised against AYA, we will ensure that the person raising the grievance or complaint has the appropriate procedures outlined so they have:

the opportunity to be heard fairly and openly and without fear or harassment
receive transparent policies and procedures in line with our code of conduct, ethics, race & discrimination and privacy

How to lodge a grievance or complaint

At AYA, we always hope that any issues that cause concern or distress can be resolved informally and amicably. In the rare situation that this is not possible, you may raise a grievance or complaint and must:

Provide details of the situation in writing, including appropriate personal information that will enable AYA to contact you to start the resolution process. The policy that has been contravened, thereby resulting in a grievance or complaint, must be stated in the written advice
Be open to meeting formally or informally with AYA and appropriate mediators (if required) and the accused party (if required) to assist the resolution process
Provide details of the complaint or grievance in a timely manner of when the situation occurred.
Maintain confidentiality during the resolution process and afterwards, including keeping all information regarding the grievance or complaint confidential amongst those directly involved
Act in a reasonable manner towards AYA, free from unethical behaviour or behaviour that contravenes our code of conduct

In receiving and addressing the grievance or complaint, AYA will:

Acknowledge receipt of the grievance or complaint in writing in a timely manner, in no more than 2 weeks from having received notice of the situation. This acknowledgement will include who will help investigate and resolve the issue, the other necessary procedures, the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in the resolution and the suggested timeframe for resolution to occur
Treat all correspondence confidentially and in line with all the policies included in this document
Keep the details of the grievance or complaint confidential from the other party, unless we are lawfully required to disclose this information, or unless you want us to raise it with the accused party
Act in a reasonable manner towards all parties, free from unethical behaviour or behaviour that contravenes our code of conduct

Grievance and Complaints Procedure for Resolution

1. All parties are encouraged to first try to resolve the situation with the other party informally and amicably. If this is not possible and a formal grievance or complaint is raised, an AYA owner will:

Acknowledge the grievance or complaint in writing and keep appropriate records of any grievance or complaint received
Gather all required information from both parties and third parties (if required)
Respond to the person raising the grievance or complaint to indicate whether their lodgement is legitimate and requires further action, including all steps taken to investigate the grievance or complaint
Outline the mediation or appeals process, should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation
Advise if legal or police involvement is lawfully necessary

2. Mediation – is recommended if the first attempt to resolve the grievance or complaint has failed

Both parties must agree to the mediator assigned
The mediator must be an objective third party
Mediation will take the form of not more than two sessions after which time, the situation is either deemed resolved or the appeals process is to be lodged
If the mediation is successful, both parties will receive a copy of a report produced by the mediator outlining the resolution and any actions agreed

3. Appeals – occurs if the dispute is unsuccessfully resolved at mediation level

Either party has the right to appeal and must provide the reason for the appeal in writing within a reasonable time of mediation having occurred
An objective third party panel will be drawn together to adjudicate, review the grounds for appeal and make a final decision based on the grievance or complaint
The appeals panel will outline the reasons for final decision
The appeals panel will advise both parties, in writing, of any action, legal or otherwise that may need to be taken
A member of the appeals panel will follow up with both parties after the appeals has concluded to confirm the level of satisfaction with the process
Either party has the right to involve legal representation in the appeals process.