Ombudsman complaints
Our office provides a free and independent complaint handling service for the public and health practitioners
How we can help
Our office provides a free and independent complaint handling service for the public and health practitioners.
Complaints to the Ombudsman
Our office accepts complaints to the Ombudsman about how the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards handle:
- notifications about registered health practitioners
- registration matters
- personal information
- freedom of information (FOI) requests.
We accept complaints to the Ombudsman about how accreditation authorities handle matters in areas such as:
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the accreditation of an education provider or program of study
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an assessment of an overseas qualified practitioner.
We can assist with complaints about the delivery of a specialist medical college’s training program or the assessment of a specialist international medical graduate.
Make a complaint to the Ombudsman
Do you want to complain about an individual health practitioner, health service or organisation? Find out more about making other health complaints.
Some of the common concerns we hear about Ahpra and the National Boards are: communication problems, delays in progressing matters, inadequate reasons for decisions, unfair policies or procedures, not considering all relevant information and failing to respond to complaints.
Investigations and complaint outcomes
When one of our staff investigates a complaint to the Ombudsman, the staff member will review the available evidence to determine whether the handing of the matter was fair and reasonable.
After completing an investigation, we may:
- provide (or suggest that Ahpra, a National Board a National Board, an accreditation authority or a specialist medical college provides) a better explanation of the decision or action to the person who made the complaint
- speed up the processing of a delayed matter
- suggest that an apology be offered to the person who made the complaint
- suggest that a process or policy be reviewed or changed
- suggest that a decision be reconsidered
- decide that the handling of the matter was reasonable and take no further action.
We aim to provide investigation updates every six weeks and finalise complaints within three months. For more complex investigations we aim to finalise complaints within nine months.
Find out more about our investigation process
Find out more
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Notification complaintsNotification complaints
Most Ombudsman complaints we receive are about the handling of a notification by Ahpra and 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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Assessment of overseas qualified practitioner complaintsAssessment of overseas qualified practitioner complaints
We assist with complaints about the assessment of overseas qualified practitioners seeking to become registered in Australia.
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Program of study accreditation complaintsProgram of study accreditation complaints
We assist with complaints about program of study accreditation processes and decisions.
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Make a complaint to the OmbudsmanMake a complaint to the Ombudsman
Find out how and when you can use our free and independent complaint handling service.
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Make a complaint to the CommissionerMake a complaint to the Commissioner
Are you ready to make a complaint about how Ahpra, a National Board, an accreditation authority or a specialist medical college used or shared personal information?