Service Charter

Introduction to our Service Charter

As the national regulator of aged care services, we protect the health, safety and wellbeing of older Australians. We are committed to ensuring that older Australians trust and have confidence that aged care services will protect and enhance their safety, health and quality of life.

We encourage people to contact us with any concerns or complaints about the quality or safety of aged care, or about our work.

This Charter:

  • explains what you can expect when you contact us or are contacted by us
  • applies to all of our staff.

If you feel we have not followed this Charter, or you disagree with a decision we have made, there are steps you can take.

What we do

We are the national regulator of aged care services. Our role is to safeguard and protect the rights of older people who receive aged care.

We hold aged care providers accountable for complying with their legal obligations and responsibilities to deliver high quality, safe and culturally appropriate care. All older people deserve a positive aged care experience that supports choice, dignity and wellbeing.

We are responsible for:

  • approving providers to deliver (Commonwealth-subsidised) aged care services
  • engaging with and educating key stakeholders in the aged care sector about the Commission’s functions
  • resolving complaints about aged care services
  • accrediting residential aged care services
  • monitoring providers’ compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards and other obligations
  • administering the Serious Incident Response Scheme
  • regulating aged care workers, volunteers and governing persons under the Code of Conduct
  • undertaking compliance and enforcement actions
  • revoking approval of an organisation to deliver (Commonwealth-subsidised) aged care services.

To find out more about the laws that define our role and responsibilities, visit Our regulatory functions.

To find out more about how to make a complaint about aged care services, visit What to do if you have a complaint or contact our complaints officers on 1800 951 022.

Our commitment to you

We are committed to delivering a service that is consistent with the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct.

This includes being impartial, committed to service, accountable, respectful, ethical and exercising stewardship.

We conduct our business in a fair, balanced and effective manner:

  • Fair – we are objective and transparent in our decision-making as we engage with older people and their representatives, providers and workers when we regulate.
  • Balanced – our decisions and actions are risk-based and proportionate.
  • Effective – in everything we do we are focused on outcomes that improve services and each older person’s experience of aged care.

When you contact us with a question, enquiry or complaint, or when you are contacted by us, we will:

  • listen to you
  • explain our processes including what we can and can’t do
  • be courteous
  • be fair and objective in the decisions we make
  • explain our decisions clearly and follow up with you after a decision has been made
  • follow the law
  • be transparent
  • protect your privacy
  • provide referral advice such as independent advocates or support organisations.

Your role

You can help us by:

  • telling us if you have special access needs so we can assist you
  • cooperating with us and responding to our requests for information as quickly and accurately as possible
  • treating our staff with courtesy and respect. We will not tolerate behaviour that puts our people at risk of harm.
  • providing feedback about our performance so we can improve our services.

What to do if you are not satisfied with our service

Giving us feedback or making a complaint about us

We encourage and welcome feedback about our service. Your feedback allows us to address any concerns you may have about our work and to improve the way we work in the future.

In the first instance, we encourage you to raise your feedback with the Commission staff member concerned.

If you’re uncomfortable doing so, or are still dissatisfied after speaking to them, you can ask to speak to their manager.

If your concern is not resolved you can lodge a service complaint with us.

What is a service complaint?

Any concern, complaint or allegation about the way we undertake our operations is a service complaint. Service complaints are formally lodged with the Commission and can range in seriousness and cover a range of topics. They can relate to, for example, delay, rudeness, poor communication or the way the Commission conducts its business.

What can you expect when you raise a service complaint about us?

Service complaints about us will be dealt with fairly and promptly. Once we receive your service complaint, we’ll respond with information that may include:

  • an outline of our complaints process
  • expected timeframes
  • the progress of your service complaint and reasons for any delay
  • your involvement in the process
  • the possible or likely outcome.

We’ll let you know as soon as we can if we can’t deal with any part of your service complaint. If this occurs, we will give you advice on where you can direct the issue.

To read more about giving feedback or making a complaint about the Commission, visit Feedback about the Commission. Alternatively, you can speak with one our customer contact team on 1800 951 822.

What to do if you disagree with a decision we have made

An affected person or approved provider can request a review of certain decisions made by the Commission. These include:

  • specific decisions relating to complaints
  • enforcement actions
  • accreditation
  • banning orders
  • approval of providers.

The aged care law sets out which decisions are reviewable, who can request a review and when the review can be requested.

The review decision-maker is someone who was not involved in the original decision and reconsiders the original decision on its merits based on administrative law principles.

For more information about reviewable decisions and the Commission’s review processes, read: Regulatory Bulletin – Reconsideration of reviewable decisions.

Review of complaints decisions

If you have made a complaint about an approved provider and are not happy with the decision we have made, you can ask us to review it.

Aged care providers can also seek a review of certain complaints decisions.

You are not able to request a review if:

  • you have chosen to be anonymous (because we are unable to contact you)
  • your complaint has already been resolved to your satisfaction (in this case you would need to open a new complaint)
  • you voluntarily withdraw from the complaints process
    • Providers must not pressure older people about using the Commission’s complaints process. If you have a concern about this, contact the Commission.

For more information about requesting a review of a complaint decision, visit Complaints and concerns.

If you want us to review our complaint decision, you must:

  • contact us within 42 days of being notified of the decision
  • state the reasons for your request.

You may seek review of a complaint decision either verbally or in writing.

You can ask us to review our complaint decision by:

Review of other types of decisions

If you want us to reconsider any other type of reviewable decision, you must:

  • contact us within 14 days of being notified of the decision
  • state the reasons for your request. 

You must make your request in writing.

You can ask us to review our decision by:

The Administrative Review Tribunal

Usually, an internal (within Commission) review of the decision is the first step if you are not satisfied with a decision we have made. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Commission’s review of a decision, some decisions can then be reviewed independent of the Commission through the Administrative Review Tribunal (please note that this does not include decisions about complaints).

The Administrative Review Tribunal can be contacted via:

Commonwealth Ombudsman

The Commonwealth Ombudsman can look at complaints about the actions of government agencies. This includes the work we do.

The Ombudsman ensures that we act fairly and follow the proper process.

If you are unhappy with how we have managed your complaint, we encourage you to contact us first. We’ll try to address your concerns. However, you also have the right to ask for an independent review by the Ombudsman.

For more information on contacting the Ombudsman, visit Commonwealth Ombudsman.

How to contact us

Our customer service officers, complaints officers and Reviews and Reconsiderations team are available by phone or email.

You can also contact our dedicated Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline if your question or concern is related to the food and dining experience at your aged care service.

For more information, including specific contact details based on your query type, please visit Contact us.

Service Charter PDF version

A PDF version of the Service Charter is available for download from our Resources Library.

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Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, water and community. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.