Make a complaint
We offer a free and independent complaint handling service
How to make a complaint
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Step 1Make sure you’re in the right place
Find out whether we're the best place to contact about your concern.
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Step 2Make a complaint to the organisation if you can
Call or visit Ahpra's website
Contact an accreditation organisation
Make sure you’re in the right place
It can be difficult to know which organisation to contact about a health-related complaint.
Our office assists with complaints about how the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), a National Board or an accreditation organisation, including a specialist medical college, regulate Australia’s registered health professions.
We deal with complaints made to the Ombudsman and privacy complaints made to the Commissioner.
Applying for a review of Ahpra's FOI decision is different.
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Learn more about complaints to the Ombudsman
Ombudsman complaints
The Ombudsman can assist with complaints about how Ahpra, the National Boards and accreditation organisations (including specialist medical colleges) have handled some matters.
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Learn more about complaints to the Commissioner
Commissioner complaints
The Commissioner can assist with complaints about how Ahpra, National Boards or accreditation organisations have collected, used or disclosed personal information.
Learn more about other health complaints
Make a complaint to the organisation if you can
Please make a formal complaint to Ahpra or the relevant accreditation organisation before contacting our office if possible. You can call Ahpra on 1300 419 495 or make a complaint via Ahpra's website. Find contact details for an accreditation organisation.
This step gives the organisation the opportunity to address your concerns before we become involved.
If the organisation does not provide a timely response or if you are unhappy with the response, you can make a complaint to us.
Make a complaint to us
Our professional and empathetic staff are ready to listen to your concerns. You can contact us by phone, email or post.
You may want to consider the following questions when preparing to lodge your complaint:
- Why am I making a complaint?
- What do I want as a result of making this complaint?
- What information can I provide to support my complaint?
Don’t forget to include a completed complaint form if you can. This will help us to process your complaint quicker.
Phone
Call us on 1300 795 265.
Online
Fill out our online complaint form.
Please make sure to:
- read and complete all questions that you can
- have all the information you would like to attach to your complaint ready as you cannot save and return to the form
- email us with any additional information or if a file is too big to attach to the form.
Email us at:
Post
Download a complaint form and send it to:
National Health Practitioner Ombudsman
GPO Box 2630
Melbourne VIC 3001
Need help to make a complaint?
Please feel free to contact us using:
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the Translating and Interpreter Service (TIS) on 131 450
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the National Relay Service. For TTY users phone 133 677 then ask for 1300 795 265. For Speak and Listen users phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 1300 795 265. For Internet Relay users connect to the National Relay Service then ask for 1300 795 265.
If you need other support to make a complaint, please let us know and we will do our best to help.
Making a confidential or anonymous complaint
Our office accepts complaints from people who do not want to share some of their personal information (such as their name) with our office, or with other relevant organisations (such as Ahpra, a National Board or an accreditation organisation).
When deciding whether to lodge a confidential or anonymous complaint, it is important to know that it can be difficult (and sometimes impossible) for our office to deal with or investigate complaints that are anonymous or confidential. This is because we may not be able to gather relevant information about the specific concerns.
Find out more about how to make a confidential or anonymous complaint
Feedback and review of our decisions
We welcome feedback about our services to help us understand what we are doing right and how we can improve. Find out more about how to provide feedback or request a review of a decision we made.
Find out more
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How we can helpHow we can help
Our office accepts complaints to the Ombudsman, complaints to the Commissioner and applications for an FOI review.
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Ombudsman complaintsOmbudsman complaints
The Ombudsman can assist with complaints about how Ahpra and the National Boards have handled notification or registration matters, personal information and FOI requests. We also can also assist with concerns about how accreditation organisations (such as specialist medical colleges) have handled some matters, including the accreditation of an education provider, program of study or training site or the assessment of overseas qualified practitioners.
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Commissioner complaintsCommissioner complaints
The Commissioner can assist with complaints about how Ahpra, the National Boards or accreditation organisations, including specialist medical colleges, have collected, used or disclosed personal information.
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What to expectWhat to expect
Find out what to expect when you lodge a complaint with our office.