We want older people, their carers, their supporters and their aged care advocates to be active partners in their care and to be able to speak up when things are not right. Our Complaints Handling Policy explains how:
- we deliver a high-quality complaint handling service in line with the Aged Care Act 2024
- a person can make a complaint
- we will respond to a complaint.
There are 5 sections to our Complaints Handling Policy:
- Overview
- Complaints Commissioner functions
- Guiding principles
- Complaints process
- Personal and protected information
1. Overview
1.1 Policy Statement
This policy explains how:
- the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commission) delivers a high-quality complaint handling service in line with the Aged Care Act 2024 (Aged Care Act)
- a person can make a complaint
- the Commission will respond to a complaint.
Our complaints handling policy and process focuses on upholding the rights (under the Statement of Rights) of older people seeking and accessing funded aged care services (older people) and protecting their safety, health and wellbeing. The Statement of Rights in the Aged Care Act puts older people and their needs at the centre of aged care.
We want older people, their carers, their supporters and their aged care advocates to be active partners in their care and to be able to speak up when things are not right.
Complaints tell us what is not working. They give older people and their carers, supporters and advocates, and registered providers (providers), aged care workers (workers) and responsible persons an opportunity to work together in a restorative way to:
- understand and remedy (fix) the issue
- restore the relationship and build trust and confidence
- prevent the issue from happening again.
We work with the older people and their carers, supporters and advocates; providers, workers and responsible persons to deal with the concerns raised. We focus on and are informed by:
- the outcome the older person wants
- the risk to the older person
- the older person’s wishes and rights
- the responsibilities of registered providers, aged care workers and responsible persons under the Aged Care Act
- our whistleblower obligations
- personal privacy requirements
- achieving suitable and lasting outcomes.
We handle complaints in a fair, transparent (clear, open and honest), accessible, sensitive and timely way.
1.2 Policy and legislative framework
Aged care legislation explains the Commission’s responsibilities for managing complaints. We work under the:
- Aged Care Act
- Aged Care Rules 2025 (Aged Care Rules)
- The Complaints Commissioner’s notifiable instrument.
This Complaints Handling Policy, our Regulatory Strategy and other policies guide how we:
- comply with our legislative role and responsibilities when we handle complaints
- protect and enhance the safety, health, wellbeing and quality of life of older people accessing funded aged care services
- respond to and escalate serious risks highlighted in a complaint (see the provider Supervision Model).
1.3 Scope
The Complaints Commissioner is responsible for the complaints functions under the Aged Care Act. The functions deal with complaints and feedback about providers, responsible persons and workers.
The Commission works with older people; their carers, supporters and advocates; providers, workers and responsible persons to address complaints made to the Complaints Commissioner. We use our complaints resolution process, which can include monitoring, compliance or enforcement actions.
Complaints give us intelligence (information) about providers, responsible persons and workers. We regularly review this intelligence. It helps us understand where issues are happening and improve the performance of the aged care sector. It also makes sure that older people’s experiences guide us and providers to continually improve.
Complaints we handle
The table below summarises what the complaints function does and does not do under the Aged Care Act.
| What we do | What we do not do |
|---|---|
|
We can take complaints about:
These complaints can include concerns about:
We take opportunities through each complaint to support and educate providers, responsible persons and workers about their obligations and equally support and educate older people to understand their rights. |
We do not take complaints about the Commission (see Feedback about the Commission). We also do not:
|
Who can make a complaint
Anyone can make a complaint to the Complaints Commissioner.
When someone can make a complaint
A person can make a complaint to the Complaints Commissioner at any time. They do not need to complain to the provider first.
We encourage people to raise a complaint directly with their provider if they can. This is often the easiest and quickest way to address a complaint.
If someone is not able to complain to their provider, or does not feel comfortable doing so, they can make their complaint to us at any time. They can choose to make their complaint confidentially or anonymously. To find out more, see section 4.1 How to make a complaint.
1.3.1 Complaints about responsible persons and workers
While most complaints are about providers, complaints can also be about workers or responsible persons. If a complaint is about a worker or responsible person, we will address it by working with them and the provider.
A responsible person is someone who makes important decisions that affect how a provider delivers services. Responsible persons include executives, managers who run the day-to-day operations of a provider and managers who run a provider’s nursing operations.
Download a full version of the policy
A full version of the policy is available to download in PDF format.
