How To Complain About Aged Care In Australia: What Actually Happens

Since 01/11/2025, complaints about Australian Government funded aged care have been handled under the Aged Care Act 2024 by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, through its Complaints Commissioner.

The Commission is not the provider, and it is not My Aged Care. My Aged Care, on 1800 200 422, is the front door for assessments and services. It does not handle complaints. If you ring it about a billing problem you will be redirected.

The Commission can take complaints about a provider, a worker, or a responsible person, including complaints that they are not meeting their obligations.

The obvious things: care that is unsafe or poor quality, missed or rushed visits, workers who change every week, being treated without dignity, food, medication, restrictive practices, a complaint to the provider that went nowhere.

And the thing families rarely think of: money.

A rate charged above the price you agreed. A service invoiced that was never delivered. A charge for a visit that was 20 minutes when the invoice says an hour. A contribution applied to a service that is fully government funded. A monthly statement that never arrives. A provider who will not explain a care management fee.

These are provider obligations, not preferences. In May 2026 the government set out new consumer protections for Support at Home and signalled closer regulatory attention to pricing and charging. If your provider will not fix a billing problem, it is a legitimate complaint.

If you are not sure whether a charge is wrong before you raise it, Wayly's Invoice Checker will check the rates on an invoice against what you were told you would pay.

Step one: put it to the provider in writing. Every provider must have a complaints process. Going to them first is usually faster, and it creates the paper trail you will need if it escalates. Keep it factual. Dates, times, what happened, what it cost, what you want done. "The worker did not attend on 14/10/2026 and the visit was invoiced at $68.40" is stronger than "the worker is unreliable". There is no legal deadline on a provider's reply, but ask for a realistic timeframe in writing. Wayly has a letter to your provider you can copy and fill in. If the issue is a charge, dispute an invoice in writing or query a line on your statement instead.

Step two: talk to a free advocate. The Older Persons Advocacy Network runs the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600. It is free, confidential and independent of providers, open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm Saturday. An advocate can tell you whether what you are dealing with is normal or not, sit in on a meeting, or help you word the complaint. Have the facts in front of you before you ring: Wayly has a one page sheet to get ready for the call.

Step three: complain to the Commission. You do not have to do steps one and two first. If you do not feel safe or comfortable raising it with the provider, go straight here.

• Phone: 1800 951 822, free call. For food, nutrition and dining complaints, 1800 844 044.
• Online: the complaint form at agedcarequality.gov.au.
• Email: info@agedcarequality.gov.au
• Post: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, GPO Box 9819, in your capital city.

If you need an interpreter you can ask the Commission to arrange one, or call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450, the Aboriginal Interpreter Service on 1800 334 944, or Aboriginal Interpreting Western Australia on 08 9192 3981. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use the National Relay Service: TTY users call 1800 555 677, Speak and Listen users call 1800 555 727, and ask for 1800 951 822. Wayly has a template for a written complaint to the Commission with every field laid out.

This is the part that answers the fear of retaliation, and it is more flexible than most people realise. The Commission lets you choose one of three ways to complain.

Anonymous. You do not give your name at all. The trade-off is that the Commission cannot come back to you for more detail, which can limit what it is able to do.

Confidential. You give your name, and the Commission does not reveal it to anyone. This is the middle ground most families want, and the one most often overlooked.

Open. You give your name and the Commission can share it.

The Commission also states that it treats all complaints and feedback as though they qualify for whistleblower protections under the Aged Care Act.

The Commission's process runs in five stages: collect and triage, assess, resolve, finalise, and evaluate.

Within three business days, it will let you know it received your complaint. It listens, asks for information, assesses the risk, asks what you want to happen, and explains what it can do. If an older person is at serious risk of harm, it takes immediate action rather than working through the queue.

At the resolve stage, one option is provider-led resolution. With your permission, the Commission refers the complaint back to the provider to fix, and the provider must report back. That can be the fastest route. It is also the wrong route if the provider is the problem, and your permission is required. You can say no and ask the Commission to handle it directly.

A complaint needs to be finalised within 90 days, unless there are reasons why it needs to take longer.

Here is the number nobody puts in their guide.

In the Commission's published performance data for September 2026, 61% of complaints were finalised within 90 days, and 93% of enquiries were finalised within 7 days.

So the 90 day rule holds for roughly three in five complaints. Nearly two in five run longer, which is permitted where there are reasons for it.

Plan for that. Keep your own dated record of every call and letter. Ask for a reference number at the start and quote it every time. If you have heard nothing for a few weeks, ring and ask what stage your complaint is at. Those are ordinary questions, not pushy ones.

This is narrower than most people expect. You can ask the Commission to reconsider a decision to take no further action on a complaint, or a decision to end a complaint resolution process. You generally have 42 days from being notified. A reconsideration officer who was not involved in the original process handles it.

What that is not: a general appeal on the merits of the care itself. Reconsideration is also not available for anonymous or withdrawn complaints, complaints found to be frivolous or vexatious, or decisions already reconsidered.

To request one, email reconsideration@agedcarequality.gov.au, or write to the Review Manager, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, GPO Box 9819 Melbourne VIC 3001. Separately, if your issue is with how the Commission itself behaved, you can take it to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 000.

If you suspect abuse, neglect or exploitation of an older person, the national elder abuse line is 1800 353 374, known as 1800ELDERHelp.

Providers are required to report serious incidents to the Commission, the most serious within 24 hours, so in many cases the Commission will already know. That does not stop you lodging your own complaint, and you should.

Complaining feels disloyal when the people doing the care are kind and underpaid, and when your parent depends on them. That feeling is real and it is why most problems go unreported.

Two things help. Complaints are about the organisation and its obligations, not usually about the individual who turned up at the door. And patterns matter: a problem recorded three times by three families is treated very differently from one raised once.

You also have a legal footing for it. The Aged Care Act 2024 sets out a Statement of Rights, and being told clearly what you are paying and why is part of it. If you have not read them, here are your 14 rights in plain English.

Aged care, made clear.