Aged care complaints: how to complain and what your rights are

Who to contact

Is there still an Aged Care Complaints Commissioner?

Yes, but the structure has changed twice and that is why the answer is confusing.

A standalone Aged Care Complaints Commissioner operated until 1 January 2019, when its functions moved into the new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Then, under the Aged Care Act 2024, a Complaints Commissioner role was recreated from 1 November 2025, this time as a statutory position inside the Commission rather than a separate office.

So if you were told to contact the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, the number you want is the Commission on 1800 951 822.

How to make a complaint

By phone on 1800 951 822, through the online form on the Commission's website, or by email.

There are three levels of disclosure:

• Open. Your identity is known and you receive updates and an outcome.
• Confidential. Your identity is withheld from the provider.
• Anonymous. No identifying details are taken.

Anonymous complaints still give the Commission useful information, but be clear about the trade-off. They cannot come back to you for detail, and you will not be told what happened.

You do not have to raise it with the provider first, although in practice that often resolves things faster.

What happens after you complain

Complaints are to be finalised within 90 days unless there are reasons a matter needs longer.

What the Commission can actually do

More than people assume, and less than people hope.

Its statutory powers include required action notices, compliance notices, varying or revoking a provider's registration, enforceable undertakings, injunctions, infringement notices, banning orders, civil penalty proceedings and applying to a court for compensation orders.

What it cannot do is award you personal compensation because you asked. It is a regulator, not a court. If compensation is what you are after, that is a legal question and you would need advice.

Your rights under the new Act

The Statement of Rights sits in section 23 of the Aged Care Act 2024 and has applied since 1 November 2025. It replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights.

Section 23 sets out the rights in 13 numbered subsections, and the Department publishes a plain English explainer. They cover independence and choice, supported decision making, dignity of risk, culturally safe and trauma aware care, dementia accessible assessment, palliative and end of life care, dignity and respect, freedom from violence and neglect, privacy, interpreters, complaining without reprisal, access to advocates, connection to family, community, Country and pets, and access at any time to a person they choose.

What the Statement of Rights does not do

This is the most misunderstood point in the whole area, so it is worth being blunt.

Section 24(3) of the Act states that nothing in that Division creates rights or duties enforceable in a court or tribunal. There is no private right to sue and no damages simply because a right was breached.

It still has teeth, just indirectly. Registered providers must demonstrate that they understand the Statement and that their conduct is compatible with it, as a condition of registration. Falling short is a matter the Complaints Commissioner and the regulator can act on.

So the Statement is a regulatory lever rather than a legal claim. Knowing that saves people from expecting the wrong remedy.

The seven Quality Standards

From 1 November 2025 there are seven strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, reduced from eight.

They are: the individual, the organisation, the care and services, the environment, clinical care, food and nutrition, and the residential community.

If you have read that there are eight standards, that information predates November 2025.

You are protected for complaining

Providers must not victimise or discriminate against anyone because a complaint was made. They must also maintain a whistleblower policy, train their workers, and communicate monthly that protected disclosures are welcome.

Anyone who reports a suspected breach of the Act to the Commission, the Department, a provider, its responsible persons or workers, a police officer or an independent aged care advocate is protected.

If you are worried about retaliation against a parent, that concern can itself be raised with the Commission.

Frequently asked