The Weekend Edition follows the standards established by the Australian Press Council and will follow the Council’s advice on handling complaints. 

We take the utmost care in ensuring that all of the content on The Weekend Edition is accurate, not misleading and adheres to our editorial guidelines. 

If you have a complaint about the content on The Weekend Edition, including advertising material, please email [email protected] with the nature of your complaint in the subject line. If you have a complaint about the conduct of an employee of The Weekend Edition, please contact Chrisanthi Demos, Managing Editor, at [email protected] with the nature of your complaint in the subject line. 

Complaints-handling process
When we receive a complaint, a member of The Weekend Edition’s team will look into the complaint, obtain any extra relevant information, then report it to the Managing Editor and Directors. The Managing Editor and Directors will then decide whether or not the complaint needs to be further investigated because: 

• it doesn’t meet the requirements of what can be complained about, who can complain, when a complaint can be made or how a complaint can be made (as per the ‘Making a Complaint’ guidelines on the Australian Press Council website); or
• The Weekend Edition has already received a complaint of the same nature and the matter has been rectified; or  
• it would be more appropriately handled by some other process (i.e. consideration by the Australian Press Council, amendment of processes or referral to a third party); or 
• it’s unlikely that a breach of The Weekend Edition’s editorial guidelines or the Australian Press Council’s Standards of Practice has occurred; or 
• the extent to which the complaint needs to be considered might be beyond reasonable limits of The Weekend Edition’s capacity (proportionate to the significance of the breach); or 
• for some other reason, the complaint is not appropriate for further investigation or consideration.  

Secondary complaints 
According to the Australian Press Council, “where a complainant is not personally identified or directly affected by the published material, the complaint may be considered as a ‘secondary complaint’”. 

If this situation occurs, the Managing Editor and Directors will take into account the following considerations when deciding whether the matter should be considered further (as per the Australian Press Council website): 

• the risk of aggravating any possible invasion of privacy or other harm caused to people or organisations which are directly affected by the material; 
• the extent to which informing the complainant, the media industry and the general public whether a particular type of breach has occurred may provide an important example of the application of the Council’s standards, even if those directly affected by it do not wish to make or endorse a complaint themselves or they cannot be contacted; 
• the extent to which consideration of the complaint might require the commitment of greater resources by the Council, the publication or the complainant than is reasonably proportionate to the significance of the possible breaches; or 
• the feasibility of considering the complaint in a way which will satisfactorily address any concerns arising from the above factors

Unless clearly inconsistent with these special processes, the processes applying to all other types of complaint also apply to secondary complaints.

Multiple complaints
If several complaints have been made about the same content or material, the Managing Editor and Directors may decide to only involve one or a selection of complaints in their further consideration. Where possible, The Weekend Edition will notify complainants of that decision and of the final outcome. If this is not possible, notification may be via a general notice on the Australian Press Council’s website. 

Handling of complaints
Unless the Managing Editor and/or Directors decide to discontinue the consideration of the complaint, The Weekend Edition will respond promptly via phone or email. The purpose of the call or email will be to inform the complainant that The Weekend Edition has already taken action in relation to the complaint, or to gather information to assist its consideration in doing so. 

Discontinuance 
If the Managing Editor and/or Directors decide to discontinue consideration of a complaint, the complainant will be informed of that decision. The complainant may request review of that decision, provided the request is received within seven days of being informed. Should the complainant not seek review, or is unsuccessful in their request, the complaint will be considered resolved. 

Escalation of complaints
If the complaint is not able to be discontinued or resolved as a result of the above processes, or in cases where the complainant seeks further facilitation or an adjudication, The Weekend Edition recommended the complaint be submitted for consideration by the Australian Press Council. The most efficient way of doing this is via the Council’s online complaints form.  

Regardless of its membership status with the Australian Press Council (or the initial complaint handling), The Weekend Edition will adhere to any requests made by the Council and publish any adjudication by it.