Policy Statement
Catholic Healthcare Limited (CHL) is committed to providing a safe, respectful and welcoming environment for older people, staff, volunteers, students, visitors and contractors and others in all service settings.
Your feedback and complaints help us improve our services, culture of safety and consumer satisfaction.
This policy explains:
- how you can give feedback or make a complaint
- what happens after you do
- whistleblower and privacy complaints
- where to get extra help if you need it.
Why your Feedback/Complaint Matters
At CHL we are always looking for ways to improve the care and services we provide. Your feedback—whether it’s a suggestion, concern or complaint—helps us do that. As feedback and complaints allows us to learn, make changes, and ensure we are meeting the needs of our clients, residents and their families.
We encourage everyone, including persons receiving aged care, supporters and nominated representatives, families, staff and visitors, to raise feedback or make a complaint if something isn’t right or could be better.
Defining Feedback and Complaints
Feedback is generally information used for continuous improvement. In accordance with the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Better Practice Complaint Handling Guide, feedback is “a compliment, criticism, comment or suggestion where a response is not sought, or not reasonable to expect.”
A complaint on the other hand is, in accordance with the above guide, “an implied or express statement of dissatisfaction where a response is sought, reasonable to expect or legally required.”
How to Raise Feedback and Complaints
There are several ways you can raise feedback and complaints with CHL, which include:
- CHL’s Complaints Online Form
- CHL’s Feedback Online Form
- By contacting the Feedback and Complaints Team: complaints@chcs.com.au
- Telephone: 1800 225 474
- By mail: PO Box 914, Macquarie Park NSW 1670.
You can also raise feedback or a complaint with any member of CHL’s workforce.
If you decide to make a complaint or raise feedback, you can do so openly (with your name), or anonymously (without giving your name or identity). Please let us know your preferred option when you contact us.
There are no charges associated with making a complaint or providing feedback, including if you decide to withdraw your matter.
If you decide to make a complaint or raise feedback, you will not be victimised or discriminated against for doing so.
Open Disclosure
We are committed to open disclosure, ensuring transparency and honesty when responding to complaints. Where harm or distress has occurred, we acknowledge it openly, offer apologies, and explain actions taken to prevent recurrence.
Feedback & Complaints Process (what happens next?)
When dealing with your feedback or complaint, we aim to:
- Acknowledge it within 24 hours
- Resolve your complaint within 28 days depending on the level of complexity and if an investigation is required. Most complaints can be resolved at the point of receipt and generally within 4 days.
Whistleblower Complaint
Under the Aged Care Act 2024, individuals—including residents, families, carers, staff, volunteers, and members of the public—can choose to have their complaint treated as a whistleblower complaint.
A whistleblower complaint may be appropriate if you have reasonable grounds to suspect serious wrongdoing in aged care services, such as:
- Abuse, neglect or mistreatment
- Unsafe or unhygienic care practices
- Staff misconduct or unethical behaviour
- Breaches of the Aged Care Act 2024 or Aged Care Rules 2025
- Fraud, corruption or illegal activity
- Cover-ups or failure to act on risks or complaints
You may elect the whistleblower pathway if:
- You believe the issue is serious or unlawful
- You’re concerned about retaliation or being ignored
- You’ve raised the issue before, but nothing changed
- You want your identity protected
If you elect to have your complaint treated as a whistleblower complaint, the following legal protections are provided to you under the Aged Care Act 2024:
- Protection from retaliation (e.g. dismissal, unfair treatment)
- Confidentiality and anonymity
- Legal immunity for disclosures made in good faith
When dealing with whistleblower complaints, CHL will take the following action:
1. Acknowledge your complaint
2. Assess if it qualifies under section 547 of the Aged Care Act 2024
3. Confirm your preference to proceed as a whistleblower complaint
4. Investigate the matter (within 28 days unless complexity requires more time)
5. Provide an outcome and implement corrective actions if needed
You can make a whistleblower complaint through any CHL feedback or complaint channel. There is no wrong door—you can speak to any staff member or contact the Complaints and Feedback Team directly.
Privacy Complaints
If you believe your privacy, or the privacy of an older person you support has been breached, including if you have concerns about how your personal, health or sensitive information has been handled, you can make a privacy complaint.
To do this, you can:
- Email the Privacy Team at privacy@chcs.com.au
- Contact the Feedback and Complaints Team using the email above, or
- Use our online complaints and feedback forms linked above.
Feedback and Complaint Support
If you need support in making a complaint or providing feedback, there are advocacy services available to assist you.
The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) supports consumers, their families and supporters to make complaints and provide feedback, in addition to helping them understand and exercise their aged care rights. You can contact OPAN on 1800 700 600. Additional information can also be found on OPAN’s Contact Us webpage.
If you need help with translation or require interpreting services, you can seek assistance via the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). You can find information on how to contact TIS National via their Contact Us webpage.
External Feedback and Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a complaint, or how you feedback was managed, you can make an external complaint to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC). To do so, you can contact the ACQSC on 1800 951 822, or make a complaint via their online form.
More information about complaints and feedback managed by the ACQSC can be found on their Complaints & concerns webpage.