Consumer rights

People receiving aged care have the right to be properly looked after, treated well and given high quality care and services. Browse the below resources to help you understand your rights.

If you receive aged care, you have the right to:

• Personal privacy
• Be involved in the decisions that affect you
• Be treated with dignity and respect
• Good quality care that meets your needs
• Full and effective use of your personal, civil, legal and consumer rights
• Complain and take steps to sort out any problems
• Advocacy support

Rights and responsibilities – residential care and home care

For people receiving Commonwealth funded aged care services, your rights are protected under the Charter of Recipients’ Rights and Responsibilities in Residential Care and Charter of Care Recipients’ Rights and Responsibilities in Home Care.

Standards of care

Aged care homes that receive a subsidy from the Australian Government have to meet Accreditation Standards. These standards are part of the legislation and set out the quality of care that must be provided to consumers. Our role as the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) is to hold aged care providers accountable to the accreditation standards.

Learn more about the Accreditation Standards by watching this video.

Make a complaint

Any person can make a complaint to the Commission about a commonwealth funded aged care provider, including care recipients, family members, friends, staff, volunteers or professionals. Complaints may relate to any aspect of service including care, choice of activities, discrimination, catering, communication or the physical environment.

Complaints about the aged care service can be made by:

• Calling 1800 951 822
• Submitting an online complaint form
• Or by writing us a letter

Services to help you make a complaint

There are services available to help people make a complaint. You have the right to an independent advocate to support you when you raise an issue with us or the service provider at any stage of the complaint process, and people can raise a concern with the help of an interpreter or translation services.

Read more about the services available. 

Your Review Rights

If you have lodged a complaint with the Commission and are not happy with a decision we have made about your complaint, you have review rights. 

We clarify what rights complainants and service providers have to seek a review following a complaint process on the Review Rights webpage.

Complain about our service delivery

If you are not happy or satisfied with the service provided by the Commission at any stage of a complaint process or at any time, you have the right to lodge a complaint. We are committed to improving our service and we welcome your views, even if they are critical. Please share your feedback. 

Rights of ‘other parties’ involved in a complaint

Complaints may often involve people other than the complainant and aged care provider.

We clarify who ‘other parties’ are and what rights they have to receive feedback or seek a review following a complaint process on the Rights of ‘other parties’ involved in a complaint page.

Customer satisfaction survey

If you have been involved in a complaint that was lodged with the Commission, we encourage you to complete our customer satisfaction survey. It is really important that we hear about your experience as this is one of the ways we understand how you rate the service you received from us.

Preventing and Managing Unreasonable Conduct

The Policy on Preventing and Managing Unreasonable Conduct (coming soon) outlines how the Commission will manage unreasonable conduct from external parties. Treating others in a respectful and courteous manner is important to us during our engagement with you and for the welfare of our staff.

Your Privacy 

Australian Government agencies must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act 1988. The APPs cover the collection, storage, quality, use and disclosure of personal information about individuals. Our Privacy policy explains what the Commission is going to do with your information from our interactions with you.

See our Privacy Policy and Notice of Collection webpage for more information.

Further aged care information

A summary of other useful contacts can be found below:

• My Aged Care – Find information about the services you need, what you need to do to receive them. There is also a national contact centre that can answer your questions; they open Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 10am-2pm. Call 1800 200 422.
• Older Person Advocacy Network (OPAN) – The national aged care advocacy line to support you with raising a concern or complaint about aged care. Call 1800 700 600.
• Lifeline – A national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Call 13 11 14.
• National Dementia Hotline – A free confidential support service which provides information about dementia, memory loss and information about government support services. Call 1800 100 500.