The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) has launched its inaugural ‘Complaints about aged care services’ report, aimed at helping providers establish good complaints handling procedures, addressing complaints early, and preventing them from escalating.

The report uses data, case studies and guided questions to illustrate good complaint handling. It provides questions for boards and senior leaders to help them manage complaints, and provides detailed information in ‘issues in focus’ sections about common complaints. Case studies show practical examples of how complaints can be handled and opportunities for providers to reflect on their own practices.

“For providers, every complaint is an opportunity to make changes and address things that are important to people they are caring for,” said Louise Macleod, who was appointed Aged Care Complaints Commissioner in May 2023.

Earlier this year, David Tune AOPSM, IHACPA Chair and Chair of the 2017 Labor Government's review of aged care legislation, handed a review of the ACQSC to government, and identified problems with the regulator's complaints-handling systems. It recommended the ACQSC support the sector to use complaints to inform continuous improvement.

Overall, the report shows a low number of complaints. For every 100 residential aged care consumers, there were 2.6 complaints. In home care, there were 1.4 complaints per every 100 consumers, and even fewer in the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) with 0.1 per 100 consumer.

You can download the report here.