Make a complaint to the Ombudsman
There are three simple steps to make a complaint to the Ombudsman
How to make a complaint to the Ombudsman
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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
Make sure you’re in the right place
It can be difficult to know how which organisation is best placed to handle a health-related complaint. There are many health complaints organisations in Australia with different responsibilities, which can make this process confusing.
Are you ready to make a complaint about how the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) or a National Board has handled:
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a notification you made or that has been made about you?
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a registration issue?
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an FOI request you made?
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your personal information?
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another matter involving you?
We also accept complaints about how an accreditation organisation, such as an accreditation committee or a specialist medical college, have handled a matter.
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. 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 complaints 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.
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 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
Find out more
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Notification complaintsNotification complaints
Most complaints we receive are complaints to the Ombudsman about the handling of a notification by Ahpra or a National Board.
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Registration complaintsRegistration complaints
We can assist with complaints about the health practitioner registration process.
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Accreditation complaintsAccreditation complaints
Our office is able to help with complaints about some of the processes of accreditation organisations.
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Privacy complaintsPrivacy complaints
We can consider complaints to the Ombudsman about how Ahpra,a National Board or an accreditation organisation, including a specialist medical college, handled a privacy-related matter.
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FOI complaintsFOI complaints
We can consider complaints to the Ombudsman about how Ahpra handled a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.