Make a complaint to the Commissioner

There are three simple steps to make a complaint about how Ahpra, a National Board or accreditation organisation, including a specialist medical college, used or shared personal information

Make a complaint to the Commissioner

  1. Step one
    Make sure you’re in the right place

    Find out whether we’re the best place to contact about your concern.

  2. Step 2
    Make a complaint to the organisation if you can

    Call or visit Ahpra's website

    Contact an accreditation organisation

     

  3. Step 3
    Make a complaint to us

    Make a complaint online or download and complete our complaint form.

Step 1

Make sure you’re in the right place

The Commissioner and our office can consider and investigate concerns about how the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), a National Board or an accreditation organisation, including a specialist medical college, have used personal information or breached a person's privacy.

Our office can also consider complaints to the Ombudsman about how a matter was handled by Ahpra, a National Board or an accreditation organisation. Sometimes these complaints raise concerns that relate to a person's privacy.

Learn more about other health complaints

Step 2

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.

Step 3

Make a complaint to us

Our professional and empathetic staff are ready to listen to your concerns. Contact us by phone, email or post.

You may like 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 your completed complaint form if you can. This will help to process your complaint more quickly.

Phone

Call us on 1300 795 265.

Online

Fill out our online complaint form.

Please make sure to:

  • read and complete all questions you can
  • have all the information you would like to attach to your complaint ready because you cannot save and return to the form
  • email us with any new information you would like to add or if a file is too big to attach.

Submit a complaint online

Email

Email us at:

complaints@nhpo.gov.au

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:

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 would not like 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 complaints that are anonymous or confidential. This is because we may not be able to gather relevant information about the specific concerns. 

Learn more about making a confidential or anonymous complaint

More information

  • Commissioner complaints

    Commissioner 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.

  • Use of personal information

    Use of personal information

    We strive to improve how your personal information is protected by Ahpra, the National Health Practitioner Boards and accreditation organisations, such as specialist medical colleges.

  • Ombudsman complaints

    Ombudsman 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.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Give us a call on 1300 795 265