Other health complaints

Health-related complaints

We understand it can be challenging to know how to make a health-related complaint. This page seeks to help you find the best place to raise your concerns. If you need further assistance, please contact us.

If you are not happy with the behaviour of a health practitioner, or the standard of care you or someone else received, you can make a complaint.

The first step is to speak directly with the health practitioner or the health service about your concerns.

If you feel that you cannot do this, or if you’re not happy with the response you have been given, you can make a complaint to a health complaints organisation. The best organisation to contact will depend on:

• where you live (particularly if you live in Queensland or New South Wales)
• why you are making a complaint
• what outcome you are seeking.

You can contact your local state or territory health complaints organisation if you are concerned about the behaviour or performance of a practitioner and would like to achieve outcomes like:

• an explanation
• an apology
• a refund or compensation
• access to your health records or to amend them
• change in policy or practice at a hospital, medical/dental practice, pharmacy, ambulance or community health service.

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)

You can contact Ahpra to make a notification if you are concerned about the health, conduct or performance of a registered health practitioner. This may include concerns that the health practitioner is:

• placing the public at risk
• practising their profession in an unsafe way
• not making safe judgements about their patients due to their health.

It is important to understand that Ahpra and the relevant National Board will undertake a risk-based assessment of your notification. This means that rather than seeking to resolve the specific issues you raised, Ahpra and the Board primarily focus on whether the health practitioner’s health, conduct or performance poses an ongoing risk to the public.

A notification can result in many outcomes for registered health practitioners. This can range from a decision to take no further action to the suspension of a health practitioner’s registration.

You can also contact Ahpra for concerns about:

• registration matters (for health professionals)
• the advertising of regulated health services.

You can contact Ahpra by phone on 1300 419 495 or visit their website: www.ahpra.gov.au.

If you live in New South Wales or Queensland, it is better if you contact the relevant health complaints organisation listed above instead of Ahpra.

Our role

If you do not think Ahpra or a National Board have handled your matter fairly or in a reasonable way, you should raise your concerns directly with Ahpra first if you can.

If you do not receive a response within a reasonable time, or if you are not happy with the response, please contact us.

We mostly assist with complaints to the Ombudsman about how Ahpra and the National Boards handled a notification about a registered health practitioner or a registration matter.

Our office can also assist with:

• applications for a review of a freedom of information (FOI) decision made by Ahpra

• complaints about the handling of personal information by Ahpra, a National Board, an accreditation authority or a specialist medical college

• complaints about some processes of accreditation authorities and specialist medical colleges.

Make a complaint

Apply for FOI review