Transferring complaints

We may decide that there is potential to resolve a complaint by transferring it to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (Ahpra), the relevant accreditation authority or specialist medical college.

This is one of the most common ways our office works with organisations we oversight to get quick and meaningful results for people making a complaint.

Complaints we transfer

There are two main reasons we recommend transferring a complaints to the organisation which is the subject of the complaint.

Reason 1: The organisation hasn’t had an opportunity to address the concerns raised

We like to give the organisation the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised in a complaint before we take any further steps.

This process often leads to faster results for complainants as the organisation can address the concerns directly.

Our investigations are comprehensive, which means it can take longer to gather and assess the relevant information.

Reason 2: A matter is ongoing

We generally do not take forward complaints that are about active matters. This is because the concerns raised may be addressed when the matter is finalised. An investigation by our office may also slow down the handling of a matter if the organisation has to respond to our investigation.

This is often the case for complaints to our office about delays associated with registration of health practitioners. For complaints like these, we have found that people often receive an update, and sometimes the registration process is sped up, by transferring the complaint to Ahpra.

Complaints process

Find out more about how we handle complaints.
Investigation process

Find out more about how we undertake investigations.
Complaint outcomes

Find out more about the ways we finalise and resolve complaints.

Make a complaint

Find out more about how to make a complaint to the Ombudsman or Commissioner

Apply for FOI review

Find out how to apply for review of Ahpra's FOI decision.

The transfer process

There are four main steps in the transfer process.

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Step 1

We contact the complainant to explain why we believe the best way to address their concerns quickly and effectively is to transfer the complaint to the relevant organisation. We will then request their consent (either written or over the phone) to transfer the complaint.

Step 2

If the complainant consents to the transfer, we will contact Ahpra, the accreditation authority or the specialist medical college to transfer the complaint. The complaint remains open with our office while the organisation responds to it. Generally, the organisation has two business days after the date it receives the complaint from our office to acknowledge receipt. The organisation is required to respond in full to the complaint within 20 business days.

Step 3

Once the complainant receives a response from the organisation, we will assess the response to ensure it is fair and reasonable. After this assessment, we may decide to:

make further enquiries
investigate the complaint, or
take no further action and finalise the complaint.

Step 4

We will share our assessment of the organisation’s response with the complainant and discuss the best way to finalise the complaint. While it is best if we agree with the complainant on whether a complaint should be finalised, it is up to us to make that decision.

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