Any reader or advertiser who has cause to make a complaint about any article, advertorial, advertisement or other content of The Epoch Times should do so by emailing info@epochtimes.com.au or writing to The Epoch Times, PO Box 843, Hurstville BC NSW 1481.

Please include your name and an address where you can be contacted (this can be an email address).

Please identify the problem as clearly as possible and specify the date/edition and page number of the article/advertisement that concerned you.

Please outline a suggested solution to your grievance. This may be: requesting a retraction; issuing an apology; amending spelling or grammar; or, changing our future practices. You may, more simply wish to give us important feedback.

Your complaint should be received no later than one month after the publication was received; consideration of complaints received after that time are at the sole discretion of the Publisher. Subject to legal advice, a correction or other adequate remedial action will be provided promptly if published material is significantly inaccurate.

Complaints may also be made to the Australian Press Council, see link above and further details below.

On receiving the complaint, a member of The Epoch Times’ complaints-handling staff will obtain any further details which he or she considers necessary at this stage. The Director then decides whether the complaint should not be considered further because:

• it does not meet the requirements about what can be complained about, or who can make a complaint, or when and how a complaint should be made (see Making a Complaint); or
• it is more appropriate for consideration by some other process (such as referral to a third party, amendment of processes; or referring the complaint for consideration by the Australian Press Council or a similar industry body); or
• The Epoch Times has already received a complaint and considers the matter sufficiently remedied.
• even if the facts alleged in the complaint are correct, it is unlikely that a breach of the The Epoch Times’ Editorial Guidelines or the Australian Press Council's Standards of Practice has occurred; or
• the extent to which consideration of the complaint might require The Epoch Times to commit greater resources than is reasonably proportionate to the significance of the likely breaches; or
• for some other reason, the complaint is inappropriate for further consideration.

Where the complainant is not personally identified or directly affected by the published material, the complaint may be considered as a “secondary complaint”.

In this situation, the Director also takes into account the following considerations, in addition to those mentioned in the previous paragraph, when deciding whether the matter should be considered further:

• the risk of aggravating any possible invasion of privacy or other harm caused to people or organisations which are directly affected by the material; or
• 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 The Epoch Times’ Standards, even if people or organisations directly affected by it do not wish to make or endorse a complaint themselves or they cannot be contacted; or
• the extent to which consideration of the complaint might require the commitment of greater resources by The Epoch Times or the complainant than is reasonably proportionate to the significance of the possible breaches; or
• the extent to which the matter requires the primary person’s input and/or participation.

Where there are several separate complaints about the same material, the Director may decide to involve only one or some of the complainants in further consideration of the material. Where practicable, complainants will be notified individually of that decision and of the final outcome. Otherwise, the outcome of matters involving a significant number of complainants will be published on the Council’s website.

Unless the Director decides to discontinue consideration of the complaint, The Epoch Times will promptly respond to the complaint by email.

The phone call and/or email will focus on whether The Epoch Times has already taken action in relation to a direct complaint about the material in question or may be willing to consider doing so in relation to the complaint.

If the Director decides to discontinue consideration of a complaint, the complainant will be informed accordingly and may seek review of that decision, provided the request is received within seven days of being notified.

If a review is not sought, or is unsuccessful, the complaint will be considered resolved.

Should the complaint fail to be discontinued or resolved as a result of these initial processes, or in cases where the complainant disagrees with the resolution of the matter, The Epoch Times recommends that the complainant submit the complaint for consideration by the Australian Press Council, eg. via their online complaints form.

Regardless of its membership status, the initial source of the complaint; or any prior resolution or discontinuance attempted by The Epoch Times, it will cooperate with any requests made by the Council, and publish any adjudication by it.