Complaint outcomes

We see complaints as an invaluable way to identify and address problems with how registered health professions are regulated in Australia.

We work closely with complainants to understand what they are seeking from making a complaint.

Generally, we strive to achieve outcomes for complaints at the individual and system levels.

Individual outcomes

People make complaints to our office for many reasons. We achieve a wide range of outcomes for individual complaints, some of which are specific to the complainant and the issue they have raised.

We aim to resolve complaints as informally and quickly as possible. During 2024-25, 97% of Ombudsman complaints we finalised did not require investigation. This could mean, for example, that we:

• transferred the complaint to the organisation being complaint about, with the complainant’s consent, to provide the opportunity for it to resolve the complainant’s concerns directly

• inquired into the issue and could provide the complainant with more information about how their matter was handed. 

In some cases, our office may:

• obtain an update for a complainant about the current status of a matter

• suggest ways to speed up the processing of a delayed matter

• suggest that an apology be offered by the organisation involved

• suggest that a decision be reconsidered 

• decide that the handling of the matter was reasonable and take no further action.

In 2024–25 the most common investigation outcome for complaints to the Ombudsman was our office providing a further explanation to the complainant about the decision, action or process that was the subject of the complaint. In many instances, we also provided feedback to the organisation involved in the complaint.