Aged Care Complaints and the New Complaints Commissioner: A Family Guide

What changed on 1 November 2025

On 1 November 2025 the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) commenced, together with the Aged Care Rules 2025, replacing the former aged care legislation as the framework for Australian Government-funded aged care. Complaints and feedback handling is further governed by the Aged Care (Dealing with complaints and feedback) Guidelines 2025. Three changes matter most to families raising a concern.

A rights-based framework. Section 23 of the Act sets out a Statement of Rights covering independence, autonomy and freedom of choice; equitable access; quality and safe services; respect for privacy and information; dignity, respect and freedom from all forms of violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse; and connection to family, friends and community. Section 24 provides that individuals are entitled to those rights when accessing or seeking to access funded aged care services, and that Parliament intends registered providers to take all reasonable and proportionate steps to act compatibly with them, recognising that rights can compete with each other and with other legal duties.

Section 24(3) is important and often misunderstood: nothing in that Division creates rights or duties enforceable by proceedings in a court or tribunal. The Statement of Rights is not a cause of action. Its practical force runs through regulation — it is a condition of registration for certain registered providers that they demonstrate understanding of the Statement of Rights and have practices in place to ensure they act compatibly with it (section 144(1)) — and through the complaints system, because a person may complain to the Complaints Commissioner about a registered provider acting incompatibly with the Statement of Rights (section 358).

A dedicated Complaints Commissioner. Division 3 of Part 3 of Chapter 5 of the Act establishes the Aged Care Quality and Safety Complaints Commissioner (section 356) and sets out that officer's functions (section 357), complaints functions (section 358), power to request information or documents (section 359) and role in dealing with complaints (section 361). The office is a statutory appointment. Ms Treasure Jennings commenced as Aged Care Complaints Commissioner on 1 November 2025, the day the Act took effect.

Its place in the system. The Complaints Commissioner sits within the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, alongside the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner (Ms Liz Hefren-Webb), who leads the Commission more broadly. The two roles are distinct: the Commissioner's functions include registration, safeguarding, engagement and education, while the Complaints Commissioner independently oversees the complaints function. The Act provides for reporting to the Minister on matters relating to each officer's functions (sections 373 and 374) and for the Commission's annual report (section 372). In practice you still contact one organisation — the Commission — and the complaints function is exercised under the Complaints Commissioner.

What has not changed is the character of the process. It remains an administrative, resolution-focused regulatory function. It is not a court, a tribunal, an ombudsman, a compensation scheme or a legal advice service.

Who can complain, and about whom

Who may complain. Anyone. The Commission receives complaints from older people receiving funded aged care, from family, friends, carers and supporters, from aged care workers and volunteers, and from health and medical professionals. There is no standing requirement, no need to demonstrate a legal interest, and no need to hold an appointment such as an enduring power of attorney.

Who a complaint can be about. Registered providers; aged care workers; and responsible persons, a defined term covering people responsible for, or with significant influence over, the services a provider delivers.

Authority is a separate question from standing. Being able to complain is not the same as being entitled to the older person's private information or to direct their care. Personal information about an individual receiving funded aged care is protected information under the Act, and the secrecy provisions in Chapter 7 govern when it may be used or disclosed. Families are often surprised by this: you can raise the concern, but the Commission and the provider may not be able to tell you everything you want to know unless the older person consents or you hold appropriate authority.

Do not assume authority you do not have. An enduring power of attorney does not automatically cover every decision. In Victoria, financial and personal matters fall under an enduring power of attorney made under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic); medical treatment decisions are governed by the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) and its medical treatment decision maker regime; and a guardian or administrator appointed by VCAT has only the powers in the order. Our guide to powers of attorney for aged care decisions sets out which instrument covers which decision.

Capacity is decision-specific. An older person who is frail, hard of hearing, living with early dementia or who tires easily may still have capacity to decide whether a complaint is made and what outcome they want. Physical difficulty communicating is not incapacity. The Act's supporter framework (Part 4 of Chapter 1, sections 27 to 42) recognises that people can be supported to make and communicate their own decisions, including through registered supporters, rather than having decisions made for them. Our article on Support at Home and legal capacity covers this in detail.

Open, confidential and anonymous. You choose. An open complaint means the Commission and the provider know who you are; you are involved in the resolution, receive updates, can supply more information, and have reconsideration rights. A confidential complaint means the Commission knows your identity but takes reasonable steps not to disclose it to the provider, worker or responsible person; you still receive updates and retain reconsideration rights, and are involved as far as possible without revealing who you are. An anonymous complaint means the Commission does not know who you are: it cannot update you, cannot seek further information, cannot tell you the outcome, cannot explain reconsideration rights, and may treat the matter as feedback if it cannot run a resolution process. Anonymity protects you but costs you influence — weigh that deliberately rather than by default.

What you can complain about

The complaints function covers Australian Government-funded aged care — residential aged care and funded home and community services, including services delivered under Support at Home. Common subject matter includes:

• Health and personal care — wounds, pain management, continence support, medication administration and errors, falls, mobility, unexplained deterioration, clinical escalation and access to a doctor.
• Staffing — availability, continuity, skills and supervision, missed or shortened home visits, unannounced substitutions of worker.
• Communication — not being told about incidents or changes, care plans not explained, calls not returned, decisions made without consultation.
• Living environment — cleanliness, maintenance, temperature, laundry, personal possessions, equipment and safety.
• Food, nutrition and dining — quantity, quality, texture-modified diets, cultural and religious needs, mealtime assistance and the dining experience.
• Fees and charges — unexplained or incorrect invoices, agreed amounts not applied, refunds and account statements. Fee questions often also require the paperwork to be checked; see our guide to aged care resident agreements.
• Choice, dignity and privacy — routines imposed without discussion, personal care given without privacy, being spoken to disrespectfully, restrictions on taking ordinary personal risks.
• Connection to family and community — visiting arrangements, participation in decisions, cultural and spiritual needs, and support for relationships.
• Restrictive practices — the use of physical, chemical, environmental, mechanical or seclusion restraints outside the requirements of the Act.

Frame the concern against the relevant right or obligation where you can. "My mother's shower was skipped four times in a fortnight" is stronger when tied to the care plan and to the right to quality and safe services delivered with dignity, than when expressed only as dissatisfaction.

Not every disappointing experience is a breach. A meal your father dislikes, a worker whose manner grates, a change of room that was properly consulted on — these are often best raised with the provider first. The Commission triages what it receives by reference to its statutory scope and to risk, and it may use information as feedback and intelligence about a provider even where no formal resolution process is required. Describing the facts accurately, and reserving the language of breach for genuine failures, helps the concerns that matter most receive the attention they need.

What the Commission does not do

Knowing the boundaries saves months. The Commission's complaints function does not:

• give you legal, financial or clinical advice, or provide a second clinical opinion;
• conduct criminal investigations or investigate a death — those are matters for police and, where relevant, the coroner;
• control employment outcomes. Whether a particular worker is disciplined or dismissed is a matter between that worker and their employer, subject to workplace law. The Commission has separate powers relating to worker conduct and suitability, but a complaint is not a request to have someone sacked and you should not expect to be told what happened to an individual;
• necessarily make findings on disputed historical facts. Where accounts conflict and there is no documentary record, the process may focus on current risk, on what the provider will change and on restoring trust, rather than declaring who was telling the truth about an event months ago;
• award compensation or damages, grant injunctions, or enforce or terminate a contract. The Complaints Commissioner has no power to make a compensation award. Separately, and confined to its own terms, section 186 of the Act allows the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) to order a registered provider to compensate an individual for serious injury or illness, where the provider is liable to a civil penalty for contravening section 179(3) or (5) and the injury or illness resulted from that contravention. The application may be made by the Commissioner with the individual's consent, or by the individual, within six years after the contravention. It does not cover every injury, death, loss, refund or service failure.

Other pathways sit alongside it:

• Complaints about the Commission itself — raise these with the Commission, or with the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
• Victorian retirement village disputes — a retirement village is not funded aged care. Village disputes run under the Retirement Villages Act 1986 (Vic) and, where jurisdiction exists, at VCAT. Our comparison of retirement villages and residential aged care explains why the two regimes are separate. A resident of a village who also receives funded home care can be inside both systems at once, with different complaints routes for each.
• Private claims — breach of an aged care or accommodation agreement, negligence causing injury, or recovery of money generally requires legal advice and, if necessary, court or tribunal proceedings.
• Health practitioner conduct — concerns about an individual doctor, nurse or allied health practitioner's professional conduct may be directed to the relevant health complaints or practitioner regulation body.
• NDIS services — where the person receives disability supports, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission handles those complaints.
• Guardianship, administration and capacity — in Victoria these are VCAT matters, with the Office of the Public Advocate and State Trustees potentially involved.

Provider first, or Commission first?

There is no provider-first rule. The choice is tactical.

Raising it with the provider first often makes sense where the issue is operational and fixable — a missed service, a laundry problem, an invoice error, a care-plan detail — where the relationship is functional, where you want speed above all, and where there is no suggestion of harm, dishonesty or retaliation. Providers are required to have complaints and feedback arrangements, and most problems are resolved this way. Do it in writing, or confirm the conversation in writing the same day.

Go straight to the Commission where:

• there is a risk to safety, health or wellbeing;
• you or the older person fear retaliation, or have already experienced a change in tone or treatment after speaking up;
• the matter is urgent and the provider is not responding;
• the relationship has broken down, or the person you would have to complain to is the subject of the complaint;
• the older person's capacity or authority is contested and the provider is dealing with the wrong person;
• the same failure keeps recurring despite assurances; or
• the concern looks systemic rather than individual — staffing levels, culture, medication systems, incident handling.

You can also do both. Nothing prevents you raising the matter with the provider and lodging a complaint, and the Commission may, with your permission, refer the complaint back to the provider to resolve while requiring the provider to report on the action taken.

Preparing the complaint

Clear preparation can make the process more efficient and useful. Spend an hour on it.

• Identify the person and the service — the older person's full name and date of birth, the provider's name, the service or home, and the type of care (residential, or funded home services such as Support at Home).
• Build a chronology — dated entries, in order, in plain language. Each entry: what happened, when, where, who was present, what was said.
• Separate observation from inference — "there were bruises on both forearms on 14 July, and staff could not explain them" is evidence. "Staff are rough with her" is a conclusion. Give the regulator the first and let it draw the second.
• Gather documents — the service or resident agreement, care plan and any reviews, progress and clinical notes you are entitled to, medication charts, incident reports, invoices and statements, emails and letters, and your own contemporaneous notes.
• Identify witnesses — other residents' families, visitors, treating practitioners — but do not pressure anyone to be involved.
• Name the right or obligation — link the facts to the Statement of Rights, the Aged Care Code of Conduct, the Quality Standards or the terms of the agreement.
• State the outcome you want — reasonable, achievable and in the older person's interests. "A written explanation, review and correction of a clinical or medication record where clinically required, and an individualised pressure-care plan recorded in the care plan following clinical assessment" is actionable. "Fix the culture" is not.
• Preserve originals and keep a contact log — never send originals; keep dated copies. Log every phone call with date, time, the name and role of the person you spoke to, and what was agreed.

A caution about photographs and recordings. Only take or use images lawfully. Photograph your own relative's injuries with their consent where they have capacity to give it, keep other residents and other people's private information out of frame, and use the images only for the purpose of the concern you are raising. Recordings and surveillance raise further issues: Australian recording and surveillance-device laws are State and Territory based and differ in important respects, and recording a private conversation you are not part of, or installing a camera in a shared or private area of a residential service, can be unlawful and can also breach other residents' privacy. Circulating clinical records, incident reports or images of other residents — including on social media — carries its own risks. If you are considering recording, get advice first, and never let evidence-gathering delay reporting a real safety risk.

How to make the complaint

As at 3 August 2026, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission accepts complaints and feedback:

• Online — through the Commission's make a complaint page and online complaint form.
• By phone — 1800 951 822 for complaints and concerns.
• Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline — 1800 844 044 for food, nutrition and dining concerns.
• By letter — Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, GPO Box 9819 in your capital city.

Interpreters and accessibility. If you need an interpreter, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. The National Relay Service is available for people who are deaf or have hearing or speech difficulty. Tell the Commission at the outset if you need language support, an accessible format or a particular method of contact.

Contact details, forms and hotlines change. Check the Commission's current "make a complaint" page before you lodge, rather than relying on a number in an old letter or an article — including this one.

What happens after you complain

The Commission handles complaints under the Aged Care (Dealing with complaints and feedback) Guidelines 2025 and its published complaints process. The stages below reflect that process as it currently stands; they are not a fixed timetable and every complaint is handled according to its own risk and circumstances.

1. Collect and triage. The Commission takes the details, asks questions, and prioritises the complaint according to the risk of harm to the older person, so that its response is proportionate. Subject to the published exceptions, it gives written acknowledgement within three business days, and it will take immediate action where an older person is at serious risk of harm.
2. Assess. Complaints officers analyse the information, gather more from other sources, and speak with the older person, the complainant, and the provider, worker or responsible person, to understand their views and what resolution is sought. Other parts of the Commission may be brought in.
3. Resolve. A range of approaches may be used, alone or together: provider-led resolution (with your permission, referring the matter to the provider to fix, with a requirement to report back); requesting specified actions within a specified timeframe; conciliation; investigation; discussion with the parties; review of documents and information; restorative engagement; and escalation to regulatory action under the Commission's supervision approach where there is high, unresolved risk. Throughout, the emphasis is on remedy, restoring trust (including through open disclosure by the provider) and preventing recurrence.
4. Finalise. The Commission seeks the views of the complainant and the older person, considers the outcomes they want alongside risk and provider compliance, and gives a written complaint determination, explaining the outcome to those involved whose contact details it holds. The older person's satisfaction is not a precondition to finalising: the Commission is not required to secure agreement before it closes a matter.
5. Evaluate. The Commission reviews the effectiveness of its own actions to improve its complaints handling. Complainants are not usually involved at this stage.

Timing. Written acknowledgement is given within three business days, subject to the published exceptions. In most cases the Commission gives a written complaint determination within 90 days. That period may be extended to 120 days where more time is needed, with the reasons communicated. In exceptional cases it can be extended further, in one or more periods of 30 days, with reasonable steps taken to advise those involved; a complainant may also request or agree to an extension. Ninety days is a target rather than a guaranteed deadline.

Review rights. An affected entity may ask for reconsideration of a decision to take no further action on a complaint, or a decision to end a complaint resolution process — ordinarily within 42 days after receiving the complaint determination, unless a longer period is specified. The request may be oral or written and must include reasons, and a review officer who was not involved in the original complaint considers it. Current channels are phone 1800 500 294, email complaintsreviews@agedcarequality.gov.au, or post to GPO Box 9819, Melbourne VIC 3001. Reconsideration is not available for anonymous or withdrawn complaints, complaints that were frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith, or decisions already reconsidered. This is a review of those specific decisions, not a general merits appeal about the care itself — see the Commission's review rights page and your determination letter for the applicable timeframe and contact details.

Open disclosure. Where something has gone wrong that caused or could have caused harm, providers are expected to check on the older person, acknowledge the harm and apologise, explain what happened in a way the person understands, and say what will change. Families often value this more than any regulatory outcome.

Other affected people. A complaint can touch people beyond the complainant, the older person and the provider. The Commission updates affected people on progress and, where a decision could affect someone adversely, gives them an opportunity to be heard.

Outcomes and their limits

What a complaint can realistically produce:

• a factual explanation of what happened;
• an apology and open disclosure to the older person;
• a change to care or services — a revised care plan, altered rostering, a different worker, changed clinical escalation or a new mealtime approach;
• correction of records that are wrong or incomplete;
• resolution of a fees, invoicing or refund issue, or an agreement to reprocess a payment — achieved through facilitated or provider-led resolution, or through compliance action, rather than by any adjudication of contractual damages;
• a systemic improvement — training, a policy or process change, or governance attention;
• restoration of the relationship, sometimes through a facilitated restorative process; and
• closer regulatory attention to the provider, or escalation to compliance and enforcement action where risk is high and unresolved.

None of these is guaranteed. The Commission works proportionately to risk and to what the older person wants, and its regulatory decisions are its own.

What the complaint itself will not produce is money. The Complaints Commissioner cannot award damages or compensation. An injunction, termination or rectification of an agreement, recovery of a refundable accommodation deposit in dispute, a guardianship or administration order, or a finding of civil or criminal liability all require different forums — a court, VCAT, or negotiated resolution with legal advice.

There is one distinct statutory pathway to keep in view. Section 186 of the Act permits the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) to order a registered provider to pay compensation to an individual for serious injury or illness, where the provider is liable to a civil penalty for contravening section 179(3) or (5) and the injury or illness resulted from that contravention. The application may be made by the Commissioner with the individual's consent, or by the individual, and the statutory application period is six years after the contravention. It is a confined remedy in a court, not an outcome of the complaint, and it does not reach every injury, death, loss, refund or service failure. Contractual, negligence, statutory and State or Territory pathways may also apply and need separate advice. Where the money question is an estate matter, our guide to refundable accommodation deposits and deceased estates is the better starting point.

Urgent matters, crime and SIRS

Immediate danger or medical emergency. If there is immediate danger, or urgent medical help is needed, call 000 directly. Do not wait for a provider or a regulator.

Suspected crime. Assault, sexual offending, theft, fraud and serious neglect can be criminal matters. Report them to police. The Commission does not investigate crime and cannot charge or prosecute anyone. A person may report the matter to police and also complain to the Commission, which can act on the regulatory risk while police deal with the offence. Be aware, though, that police, coronial or other legal proceedings can affect the timing, scope or finalisation of the Commission's process.

Abuse, neglect and safeguarding. Where the concern is financial — money moving, documents being signed, a new "helper" controlling the accounts — treat it as an elder abuse issue as well as an aged care complaint, and read our guide to elder financial abuse in Victoria. Financial abuse frequently involves an attorney acting outside their authority, which is a legal problem the complaints system cannot solve.

SIRS. The Serious Incident Response Scheme requires registered providers to manage and notify reportable incidents. Section 16 of the Act defines a reportable incident as any of the following occurring, or alleged or suspected to have occurred, in connection with the delivery of funded aged care services to an individual by a registered provider:

• unreasonable use of force;
• unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct;
• psychological or emotional abuse;
• unexpected death;
• stealing or financial coercion by an aged care worker of the provider;
• neglect;
• use of a restrictive practice other than in accordance with the prescribed requirements; and
• unexplained absence in the course of the delivery of funded aged care services.

The Rules can define or clarify those events, and can include or exclude events, so the operative detail is found in the Act and Rules together. Three points matter for families:

• SIRS is a notification obligation on the provider, not a reporting duty on you — families do not make provider SIRS notifications, but they may make complaints;
• a SIRS notification is not a substitute for your complaint, and does not mean your concerns have been addressed; and
• failure to identify, manage or notify a reportable incident properly can itself be part of a complaint.

Deaths. Two different concepts are often confused. "Unexpected death" is a SIRS category under section 16, and whether a particular death is a reportable incident depends on the Act and Rules. Separately, a "reportable death" is a concept under the coronial law of the applicable State or Territory. A death is not reportable merely because it occurred in residential aged care, and not every death in care is a "death in care" for coronial purposes. In Victoria, categories such as unexpected, unnatural or violent deaths, deaths resulting directly or indirectly from injury, deaths where the cause is unknown, and other defined categories may be reportable — see the Coroners Court of Victoria guidance on reportable deaths. Anyone unsure whether a death must be reported should promptly contact police or the relevant coroner. A coronial inquiry does not always run fully in parallel with a complaint: it may cause the Commission to defer, extend or end its complaint resolution process.

Urgent capacity and decision-making problems. If a provider is taking instructions from the wrong person, if there is no valid appointment in place, or if an attorney is acting against the older person's interests, the answer may be an urgent VCAT application for guardianship or administration, or revocation and replacement of an instrument while capacity remains. These matters may require urgent legal or VCAT action in addition to a complaint — and a provider dealing with the wrong decision-maker can itself be complained about.

Whistleblower protection and retaliation

Part 5 of Chapter 7 of the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) contains whistleblower protections. In outline, section 547 identifies disclosures that qualify for protection; section 548 sets out the protections; sections 549 and 550 deal with preserving anonymity and the confidentiality of a discloser's identity; section 551 prohibits victimisation; section 552 provides for court orders; and section 553 imposes obligations on registered providers in relation to disclosers. State and Territory laws can operate concurrently (section 554).

Two points of realism. First, protection depends on the statutory elements being satisfied — the identity of the discloser, the recipient of the disclosure and the subject matter all matter. It is not accurate to say that every complaint automatically attracts every protection, and you should not rely on a general assumption if the stakes are high; get advice. Second, the Commission's practical stance is protective: it says it treats all complaints and feedback it receives as though they qualify for whistleblower protections under the Act, and it publishes a policy on managing whistleblower disclosures.

Retaliation. Be precise about the protection that actually applies. The Statement of Rights includes the right to complain and to have complaints dealt with fairly and promptly, without fear of reprisal. Statutory whistleblower victimisation protection under section 551 applies where the disclosure qualifies for protection under section 547 — not every complaint automatically satisfies every statutory element. The Commission says it treats complaints and feedback protectively. If treatment of the older person deteriorates after a complaint — services reduced, visits restricted, notice of exit given, hostility from staff — record it precisely and raise it with the Commission immediately as a fresh and serious concern. Threats to terminate an agreement or to require a resident to leave after a complaint should also be taken to a lawyer, because the terms of the agreement and the Act's requirements will both be relevant.

Aged care workers who raise concerns internally and are then managed out have an additional dimension to consider, since workplace law may also be engaged. That is beyond the scope of the aged care complaints system.

Advocacy, supporters and legal advice

Advocacy. The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN), funded under the National Aged Care Advocacy Program, offers a free, independent and confidential advocacy service on 1800 700 600. Advocates explain rights, help work out what to ask for, support a person at meetings, and can stay involved through the complaint. OPAN is an advocacy service — it is not the regulator, it does not make regulatory decisions, and it does not give legal advice. For many families it is the most useful first call.

Supporters. The Act's supporter framework allows a person to be supported to make and communicate their own decisions, including through registration as a supporter. A supporter's role is to assist the older person's decision-making, not to substitute for it.

Attorneys, guardians and administrators. Act only within the actual scope of the appointment. An attorney for financial matters is not thereby a medical treatment decision maker; a medical treatment decision maker does not thereby control the bank account; a VCAT-appointed guardian has only the powers listed in the order. Acting outside authority is itself a legal risk, and providers are entitled to ask for the instrument.

When to involve a lawyer. Consider legal advice where the issue involves the validity or scope of an appointment; contested capacity; an aged care or accommodation agreement, including fees, refundable deposits and exit terms; suspected financial abuse; serious injury, neglect or death; threatened transfer or termination; a provider dispute that has stopped progressing; or where you need to preserve rights while a complaint runs.

A staged family checklist

1. Deal with immediate safety first. 000 for danger or a medical emergency; police for suspected crime. Everything else waits.
2. Speak with the older person. Ask what they want. Tell them you are raising it. Record their views, including where they differ from yours.
3. Identify who actually has authority. Locate the enduring power of attorney, medical treatment decision maker appointment, supportive attorney appointment or VCAT order, and read what it covers.
4. Preserve the evidence. Chronology, documents, photographs of your own relative with consent, contact log. Keep originals safe.
5. Choose the pathway. Provider, Commission, both, or somewhere else entirely — police, coroner, VCAT, health regulator, lawyer.
6. Decide the outcome you are asking for. Specific, achievable, and in the older person's interests.
7. Choose your confidentiality setting deliberately. Open, confidential or anonymous — knowing what each costs.
8. Follow up in writing. Confirm calls, diarise dates, note the reference number, and escalate if the matter stalls.
9. Get advocacy or legal advice when the matter involves rights you cannot enforce yourself, money, capacity, or a relationship that has broken down.

Two worked examples

These illustrations are hypothetical and simplified. They describe how the process may be approached; they are not predictions of outcome, and no outcome is guaranteed.

Example A — residential aged care. Margaret, 88, lives in a residential aged care home. Over three weeks her daughter finds her in a soiled bed on two visits, notices a pressure area developing on the heel, and is told different things by different staff about whether a doctor has been asked to review. Margaret has capacity. She consents to her daughter being involved, agrees to the heel being photographed, and authorises her daughter to ask for the care plan and progress notes — the daughter is not automatically entitled to those records merely because she is Margaret's daughter. The daughter records dates and times and raises the concern with the facility manager in writing; the reply is general and no change follows. Margaret is anxious about being seen as a difficult resident. The daughter lodges a confidential complaint with the Commission, attaches the chronology, identifies the rights engaged, and asks for three specific things: a clinical review with wound management documented, an individualised pressure-care and continence plan recorded in the care plan following clinical assessment and documented on implementation, and a written explanation to Margaret. The Commission triages the matter on risk, seeks Margaret's views, and works with the provider on resolution and open disclosure. Whether it goes further depends on what the information shows.

Example B — Support at Home. Bill, 79, lives at home with funded services under Support at Home. Over two months, personal-care visits are repeatedly shortened or missed, workers change constantly, and Bill's statement shows charges for visits he says did not occur. Bill has capacity but finds phone calls exhausting, so he expressly authorises his son to help him and to communicate with the provider and the Commission on his behalf. His son also holds an enduring power of attorney for financial matters; that instrument authorises the son to act only if it has commenced, only for the relevant financial matter, and only within its terms. The son builds a visit-by-visit table from Bill's diary and the provider's statements, writes to the provider, and receives no substantive response. He calls OPAN, then lodges an open complaint with the Commission naming both the service reliability and the billing discrepancy, asking for a reconciled account and a stable roster. Because Bill has capacity, decisions about his personal care and services remain Bill's to make; the son supports and communicates, he does not direct them. The Commission may seek information from the provider, may request specified actions, and may monitor. If the billing dispute is not resolved, that part may need legal advice rather than regulatory action.

How we help

Parke Lawyers acts for older Victorians and their families in the legal issues that sit around, and often behind, an aged care complaint. We do not conduct the regulator's process for you, and we cannot promise a particular outcome, faster handling or special influence with any regulator. What we do is make sure the legal position is right while the complaint runs.

That work typically involves authority and capacity — checking, correcting or replacing appointments under our powers of attorney and elder law practice, and applying to VCAT for guardianship or administration where that becomes necessary; reviewing aged care, accommodation and service agreements, fees, refundable deposits and exit terms through our retirement living and aged care practice; advising on suspected financial abuse and recovering misapplied funds; advising on serious neglect, injury or death, including where police or coronial processes are involved; and advising on provider disputes and regulatory engagement, including correspondence, evidence and preserving rights.

Where the right answer is advocacy rather than a lawyer, we will say so.

Frequently Asked Questions