Complaints and your rights

If someone is in danger, call 000

If a life might be at risk, or a person could be seriously hurt, call triple zero (000). If a person with disability could be harmed soon but it isn’t an emergency, call the NDIS Commission straight away on 1800 035 544.

Raise it with the provider, if you feel comfortable

Both commissions say that talking to the provider is often the quickest way to sort things out. You don’t have to, though, especially if you don’t feel safe.

The NDIS Commission says your NDIS provider must make you feel safe to raise concerns, deal with them quickly, not threaten you for complaining, and help you report to the Commission when needed. In aged care, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission says a provider can’t punish you or treat you differently for raising a concern.

Write it down

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s tips work for any complaint:

• Write down your concerns, so they’re in a logical order and you have a record.
• Stick to the facts of what happened.
• Include names, dates and places, as soon as you can.
• Be clear about what you want: an apology, an explanation, a change in practice, or a plan so it doesn’t happen again.

NDIS: contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

The NDIS Commission handles concerns about the quality and safety of NDIS supports, from registered and unregistered providers and workers. That includes neglect or abuse, supports that stop or are poor quality, a provider not responding to complaints, unfair pricing, privacy breaches and suspected misuse of NDIS funds.

• Phone: 1800 035 544 (free from landlines), Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (7:30am to 3:30pm in WA). TTY 133 677. Interpreters can be arranged.
• National Relay Service: ask for 1800 035 544.
• Online: the ‘Report an issue’ form on ndiscommission.gov.au.
• Post: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, PO Box 210, Penrith NSW 2751.

You can report anonymously or confidentially. If you’re unhappy with the Commission’s decision, you can ask for a reconsideration within 42 days, and after that you can raise it with the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The Commission doesn’t handle your NDIS plan, funding or NDIA decisions. For those, contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110. To report suspected fraud, call the NDIS fraud reporting and scams helpline on 1800 650 717.

Aged care: contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

If talking to your aged care provider hasn’t helped, or you don’t feel comfortable doing it, call the Complaints Commissioner at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822. It’s free, anyone can complain, and you don’t have to speak to the provider first.

You can choose how involved you want to be:

• Open: your name is shared, you get updates and can take part in the process.
• Confidential: the Commission knows who you are but takes reasonable steps not to reveal it to the provider.
• Anonymous: nobody knows who you are, but the Commission can’t update you on the outcome.
• Feedback: tell them about a concern without being involved in how it’s handled.

For a complaint about My Aged Care itself, call 1800 200 422.

Get an advocate on your side

An independent disability advocate can speak, act or write on behalf of a person with disability. They’re independent of the NDIA, the NDIS Commission and all NDIS providers, and registered NDIS providers must cooperate with them. Find one through the Disability Advocacy Finder.

For aged care, the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) offers free, independent and confidential support. Call the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600, Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.

A family member or friend can also help you raise a concern with either commission.