Let's talk about complaints - Issue 1 August 2026

Welcome to the first edition

I’m honoured to take on the role of the first Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Complaints Commissioner under the new Aged Care Act 2024 (Aged Care Act) which started on 1 November last year.

This role is an independent statutory appointment. This means I can be impartial (unbiased and fair) when I look into complaints and identify issues. My focus is, and will always be, on whether people receiving government funded aged care are:

  • being heard
  • treated fairly
  • getting the quality care they deserve.

Being independent gives me the freedom to call out poor practice where I see it. It also means I can recognise good practice too. I will always keep the rights and interests of older people and their families, supporters, carers or kin at the centre.

We will publish this newsletter 3 times a year. Each edition will focus on what we’re learning through complaints, and on the experiences of people receiving aged care — whether in residential care or through services in their home. I’ll include examples of:

  • how your complaints have made real improvements in care
  • what good aged care looks like.

I’ve called this newsletter ‘Let’s talk about complaints’ because good communication is at the heart of quality care. Good communication between providers and the people they care for reduces complaints and helps resolve issues before they get worse. We encourage providers to resolve complaints directly with the people they provide care to, wherever possible. Under the Aged Care Act, every provider must have an effective complaints handling system that is simple and easy to understand.

A personal story

For this first edition, I wanted to share a story from my own life. My 92-year-old mum has been in residential aged care for about 3 years. Her path there was a familiar one: her health declined (likely because of changes in her nutrition and medication management) and a nasty fall made it clear that the time had come for residential care.

The early days of that transition were hard. It takes time for staff to get to know a new resident –their routines, their preferences, what matters to them. It also took mum a while to feel at home in an environment she had to share with other people. There were times when we raised concerns. In particular when my family felt she wasn’t receiving enough clinical attention. I’m glad to say things have improved since then, and she is now happy and well.

Two of the most important factors for my mum have been good nutrition and the staff, who are warm and attentive. She tells me she feels safe and cared for. That she knows this is the right place to meet her needs.

My mum’s experiences, and my family’s experiences with the provider, are possibly familiar to many of you. A tricky start, but through good communication and raising concerns as they came up there have been improvements. We all feel as though her provider and workers are respecting her rights and meeting her health and wellbeing needs. They communicate with us well as a family and my mum gets to tell them her preferences and make her own choices. This should be the case for everyone. And if this isn’t happening, you have rights and protections in the new Act.

Your rights

The rights of people receiving funded aged care services are protected under the Aged Care Act.

If you feel you, or your loved one’s, rights aren’t being respected, then speaking up will make a difference. I encourage you to raise any issues with your provider first. They can often resolve the issue quickly. However, if you’re not happy with how they deal with it, or you’re not comfortable talking to your provider, please contact us so we can help.

You can find out more about your rights on our Understanding your rights webpage.

If you have a very serious concern, then please call us directly. We deal with serious issues as quickly as possible. You can make a complaint and find out how our complaint process works on our How to raise a concern webpage or by calling us on 1800 951 822.

Treasure Jennings
Aged Care Complaints Commissioner

Choice, dignity, respect – your rights in aged care

Our public information program, ‘Choice, dignity, respect – your rights in aged care’, can help you, your family and supporters understand your rights under the new Aged Care Act. It also explains the different ways you can raise concerns and make complaints.

It’s important that you know:

  • what your rights are
  • what your provider should be doing
  • what to do if you have a concern or complaint
  • how we can help you.

Understanding your rights

Older people now have stronger rights and protections after the recent changes made to aged care laws in Australia. These changes include a Statement of Rights, which explains that older people receiving aged care services have the right to:

  • make their own decisions about their life
  • have their decisions respected
  • get information and support to help them make their own decisions
  • communicate what they want, need and prefer
  • feel safe and respected
  • have their culture and identity respected
  • stay connected to family and community.

Everyone’s situation in aged care is different. But it’s important to know you have a voice and that your provider must listen to you. Some practical examples of how your provider can follow the Statement of Rights include:

  • giving you easy to understand information about your care
  • supporting your preferences for your daily routine
  • asking for, listening to, and replying to your feedback and concerns
  • making sure you can access the things you need
  • making sure you’re only taking the medicines you need and that have been prescribed to you
  • providing food and drink that you like
  • keeping you connected to your family, community, pets, culture and Country.

Find out more by:

What your provider should be doing

Aged care providers must respect the people in their care and provide safe, quality services that meet their needs. This includes providing care and services as they’re explained in the:

  • Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards – a set of standards that providers need to meet to make sure older people receive safe and quality care
  • Statement of Rights – lists the rights that older people have when receiving aged care
  • Aged Care Code of Conduct – describes how aged care providers, responsible persons (people who manage services for a provider) and workers (including volunteers) must behave and treat people receiving aged care.

Meeting these standards and responsibilities makes sure that everyone receiving aged care is treated with dignity and respect.

For more information about what to expect from your provider you can:

What to do if you have a concern

If something about your aged care worries you, or just doesn’t feel right, it’s important to speak up.

It’s safe to speak up, and it can improve the quality of care for everyone. A provider, worker or responsible person can’t punish you or treat you differently for raising a concern.

Your provider must have a complaints process that is easy to understand and use. They should provide you with information about how you can give feedback about your care. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your provider, or if talking to them hasn’t helped, you can contact us.

You can contact the Commission by:

Older Person Advocacy Network

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) provides free, independent and confidential support to older people receiving government-funded aged care services. Contact OPAN’s Aged Care Advocacy Line to speak with an advocate by calling 1800 700 600 or visit opan.org.au.

The Elder Care Support Program

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing have partnered with NACCHO (National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation) start the Elder Care Support program.

The Elder Care Support program supports older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their families to understand and use the aged care services they’re entitled to.

You can use this list of providers to find your local Elder Care Support organisation.

How we can help

When you contact us to raise a concern, you decide how you want to be involved:

  • you can leave feedback without being involved in how we handle it
  • you can make a complaint and be part of how we handle it
  • you can choose to not share your identity (name, personal information and contact details) with us
  • you can choose to not share the identity of anyone involved in the complaint with the provider.

We will protect your privacy at all times, whichever option you choose.

You can find out more about what happens when you call us in our fact sheet What to expect when you raise a concern with us.

Case study: Susan's story

The story below shows how we helped a person receiving aged care to raise a concern with their provider and seek an outcome to resolve the issue.

Susan and James

James contacted the Commission with a concern about the management of his mother’s Support at Home package.

His mother, Susan, had received information to say that across the January to April period she was $15,000 over budget. There was no communication from the service that Susan was overspending each month. James was also concerned that when his mother received her statements for the month, they were 6-8 weeks behind.  

Susan’s service provider was refusing to provide the full range of her normal services and only allowed a cleaner to come for 2 hours every 3 weeks.

James was concerned that his mother was not getting the support she needed.

What we did

The Commission listened to the concerns and explained to James what we could do to help.

We then contacted the provider and asked for written responses and further information about Susan's package. We also reviewed Susan’s care plan and her provider agreement. Based on the circumstances of the complaint we determined it was reasonable for the provider to take actions to resolve it.

We requested that the provider:

  • acknowledge the delay in sending accounts over Christmas
  • provide an explanation for the deficit on Susan’s account and waive the amount owing
  • complete monthly reviews of accounts at risk of overspending
  • develop new monitoring tools for budgets
  • develop new procedures and monitoring tools for budgets
  • increase resources in the finances team to monitor overspending

How this helped Susan

We were able to finalise the complaint as feedback from James was that he and his mother were happy with the outcomes we sought from the provider. Susan's account balance was brought back to $0.

You can read more about your rights and our role on the Choice, dignity, respect – your rights in aged care webpage.

*This example is based on real experiences, but we’ve changed the names to protect people’s privacy

Higher Everyday Living Fee

Since 1 November 2025, the Higher Everyday Living Fee (HELF) has replaced additional and extra service fees in residential aged care. HELF was introduced to enable older people to have additional choices and enhanced services in residential aged care. These services are above and beyond what is required under the Residential Care Service List (service list) and the Quality Standards.

The service list, includes the types of services that are standard service offerings. Providers can’t charge HELF for these.

Standard care includes things like:

  • nutritious meals, snacks and drinks – food and drinks must be nutritious, appetising, and safe. They must also meet older people’s needs and preferences. They should include variety and help people to feel that they belong
  • basic toiletries, including soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, hairbrushes and moisturiser
  • essential services like heating, and cooling – your room and shared areas should be kept at a comfortable temperature
  • help with showering
  • cleaning of rooms and laundry
  • clinical care.

If you’re being charged incorrectly

If you think your residential provider is incorrectly charging you HELF, you can make a complaint to us. If you’d like to speak with an advocate, you can call 1800 700 600 or visit opan.org.au.

HELF is an optional fee for older people who choose to have a higher standard of everyday living services.

Your provider can’t charge you HELF:

  • for funded services under the Residential Care Service List
  • for accommodation costs
  • for a service that you can’t or won’t use*
  • unless you sign a HELF agreement or verbally agree to an ad hoc HELF agreement.

*with the exception of services included in a bundle. Your provider can charge a HELF for a bundle of services that may include some you cannot use. However, the price you pay for the bundle must not be more than the total price of the individual services that you can use.

You can only start receiving, and being charged for, HELF services after you’ve moved into an aged care home and signed a HELF service agreement (or verbally agreed to an ad hoc HELF service agreement).

Your provider can’t:

  • make it a rule that you have to pay a HELF if you move into their aged care home
  • force you to sign a HELF agreement.

They must make sure you understand the HELF agreement, what services you will receive and what you will pay for those services.  They must also review any HELF agreements at least once a year to make sure you still want, and can use, the services.

If your provider offers bundled services, they must explain:

  • the price of each service if purchased on its own, and
  • the price of each service if purchased as a bundle.

You don’t have to accept the bundle, and you can choose to purchase any service separately.

Your provider may include services you can’t use in a bundle. However, you should still be better off using only the services you want through the bundle, rather than as standalone services.

Providers must deliver services in line with the:

If we find that your provider isn’t meeting their responsibilities, we’ll take action against them. We may ask them to:

  • restore services that they took away
  • refund you if they charged fees incorrectly.

OPAN has a new information sheet to help you to understand optional fees in residential aged care: New resource: Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF) information sheet - OPAN

You can also find more information on HELF on the department’s website.

Open disclosure – the essentials

We recently held a webinar on ‘Open Disclosure – the essentials’. Open disclosure is a discussion your aged care provider should have with you when something’s gone wrong that’s caused you, or could have caused you, harm.

Open disclosure helps you feel heard, safe and cared for. This is particularly important in vulnerable moments when care doesn’t go to plan. Providers must have policies and systems and provide training that supports open disclosure. They must use open disclosure to respond to feedback, complaints and serious incidents.

They need to:

  • check that you’re okay and give you any support you need at the time
  • acknowledge what happened and how it affected you, and say sorry
  • find out what caused the issue and explain it to you in a way you understand
  • learn from the experience and let you know what they’ll do to stop it happening again.

During our webinar the speakers talked about why open disclosure is so important and when providers should be using it. You can watch the recording of the webinar on our Open disclosure – the essentials webpage.

You can find out more about open disclosure:

Resources about complaints

We have developed resources for older people, their families and supporters that explain:

  • what aged care rights mean for older people
  • tips for raising a concern
  • how we can help.

These resources include:

A brochure that explains how we can help if you have concerns about an aged care provider, worker or responsible person.

A document with tips on raising a concern about aged care with your provider, or with us.

A fact sheet explaining how to raise a complaint with us, what complaints we can help with and what happens when you contact us.

A fact sheet for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their friends and family to help them speak up about aged care services.

A fact sheet that explains how we support you if you have concerns or complaints about the behaviour of the people who are caring for you.

You can find even more resources on our Resources for older people, their families and supporters webpage.

We want to hear from you

We’d like to know what topics you’d like to read about in this newsletter. This will help us to make sure the information we include is helpful.

If you have a suggestion, please send it to communications@agedcarequality.gov.au.

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Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, water and community. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that content on this website may contain images of deceased persons.