Patient guide
How to raise a concern about a telehealth clinic
Five different bodies handle concerns about health care in Australia, and each one deals with a different kind of problem. This guide sets out where to start, who handles what, and what each body can and cannot do for you. It is general information, not legal advice.
Verified against AHPRA, the OAIC and the state and territory health complaints bodies on 27 October 2026. Check the body's own site before you rely on this.
The short answer
- Start with the clinic. Put the concern in writing to its complaints contact and keep a copy. Most clinics publish their process in their terms or on a support page.
- Fees, refunds, record access and the standard of service go to the health complaints body in your state or territory. These bodies can look at clinics as well as individual practitioners.
- Concerns about whether a registered practitioner is practising safely go to AHPRA. AHPRA cannot award compensation or arrange a refund.
- Advertising for medicines that may break the rules goes to the TGA. Privacy complaints go to the OAIC once the clinic has had 30 days to respond.
- If you are unsure which body fits, contact your state or territory health complaints body. Each one can tell you where a concern belongs.
Changing clinics
Moving your care from another clinic?
Our changing clinics page explains what to bring: your current prescription details and, if you have one, a treatment summary. A LeafLine Clinician reviews your history at a first consultation and decides what happens next.
Start here
Who handles what
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The clinic gets the first go
A written complaint to the clinic is usually the quickest route to an answer, and the OAIC requires it before it will take a privacy complaint. Queensland’s Office of the Health Ombudsman also suggests contacting the provider first.
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AHPRA looks at practitioners
AHPRA and the National Boards regulate individual registered practitioners. They act where a practitioner’s conduct, performance or health may put the public at risk. They do not handle complaints about a clinic as a business.
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Complaints bodies look at the service
Each state and territory has an independent health complaints body. These bodies handle fees and charges, record access and the service you received, and they can help resolve a dispute with a clinic.
Step one
Raise it with the clinic in writing
A clinic can check its own booking records, call notes and payment history in a way no outside body can, and it can fix a billing error or rebook an appointment the same day. AHPRA describes talking to the practitioner or service as often the quickest and easiest way to resolve a concern, and most concerns get settled at this stage.
Put the complaint in writing, even if you also ring. Say what happened and when, name the people involved if you know them, attach any receipts or messages, and say what outcome you want: a refund, an explanation, a copy of your records, an apology. Keep a copy with the date you sent it. If the matter later goes to a regulator, that copy shows you gave the clinic a fair chance to respond.
A clinic should publish how it handles complaints. LeafLine Clinic's process sits in our terms and conditions: write to admin@leaflineclinic.com.au or call (03) 7057 7217, and we acknowledge the complaint within 2 business days, investigate it, give you a response within 30 days and tell you about external review options if you are not satisfied. The same contact details are on our support page.
Step two
The health complaints body in your state or territory
If the clinic's answer does not resolve it, each state and territory has an independent health complaints body. According to AHPRA, these bodies investigate concerns such as fees and charges, may help with financial compensation and dispute resolution, and accept complaints about clinics and other service providers as well as individual practitioners. They cannot take action against a practitioner's registration. AHPRA refers complaints about fees, access to health records and dissatisfaction with the level of service to these bodies.
For a telehealth consultation, start with the body in the state or territory where you live. If the matter belongs somewhere else, that body can tell you where to take it.
- New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission
- Victoria Health Complaints Commissioner
- Queensland Office of the Health Ombudsman
- Western Australia Health and Disability Services Complaints Office
- South Australia Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner
- Tasmania Health Complaints Commissioner
- Northern Territory Health and Community Services Complaints Commission
- Australian Capital Territory Health Services Commissioner, ACT Human Rights Commission
AHPRA keeps the full list on its health complaints organisations page, which also names the national Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
Keep a dated copy of everything you send.
Practitioner conduct
When the concern is about a practitioner
AHPRA, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, works with the National Boards, including the Medical Board and the Nursing and Midwifery Board. It receives concerns, called notifications, about registered health practitioners, and it can look into unsafe care, unprofessional behaviour and a practitioner's health where the risk is not being managed. It also investigates people who claim to be registered when they are not.
AHPRA regulates individual practitioners and not organisations. It does not deal with complaints about a health service as a business, and it refers fees and charges, record access and the level of service to the local complaints body. A National Board cannot award financial compensation or arrange dispute resolution. AHPRA acts where there may be a risk to the public, so it asks whether the practitioner is safe to practise and leaves money disputes to the complaints bodies.
New South Wales and Queensland run different arrangements. In New South Wales, concerns about practitioners go through the Health Professional Councils Authority or the Health Care Complaints Commission. In Queensland they go to the Office of the Health Ombudsman. You can start on AHPRA's concerned about a health practitioner page, which routes you to the right place. Anything that may be a crime, such as an assault, should also go to the police.
Advertising and privacy
Two more regulators with narrower jobs
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulates the advertising of medicines and other therapeutic goods. If you see advertising that you think breaks those rules, you can report it through the Report a breach section of the TGA website. The TGA deals with the advertising itself. Disputes about fees or the care you received belong with the bodies above, and the TGA points concerns about health practitioners to AHPRA.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) handles complaints about how an organisation collected, used, stored or disclosed your personal information, including health information. The OAIC asks you to complain to the organisation first. If it does not respond within 30 days, or you are unhappy with the response, you can lodge a complaint with the OAIC in writing. Include the organisation's name, its ABN if you know it, what happened and when, and the outcome you want. In Victoria, the Health Complaints Commissioner also handles health records concerns under state law.
If your concern is that a clinic will not give you your records, our post on your right to your health records sets out what you can ask for and how long it should take. To check a clinic before you book rather than after, see how to check a telehealth clinic is legitimate.
If it cannot wait
A complaint process is not an emergency service
Complaints bodies and regulators take weeks to work through a matter. If you or someone else is in danger, or you are having a medical emergency, call 000 or go to your nearest emergency department. For crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can make the complaint once you are safe.
Current at 27 October 2026. General information, not legal advice. Sources, all read 27 October 2026 unless noted: AHPRA, Health complaints organisations (page reviewed 26 November 2025); AHPRA, Concerned about a health practitioner; Health Care Complaints Commission (NSW), Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria) and Office of the Health Ombudsman (Queensland), each from its own website; Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Lodge a privacy complaint with us (last updated 2 March 2026); LeafLine Clinic terms and conditions, Complaints and feedback. The South Australian, Tasmanian, Northern Territory and ACT sites blocked automated access and the Western Australian site refused our connection on 27 October, so the names and links for those five bodies come from AHPRA's list. The TGA site did not respond on 27 October; the description of its advertising reporting route rests on TGA material we captured on 20 April 2026.
Raising a concern: common questions
How do I make a complaint about a telehealth clinic?
Write to the clinic first, using the complaints contact in its terms or on its support page. Say what happened, when, who was involved and what you would like done, and keep a copy. If the reply does not resolve it, take the complaint to the health complaints body in your state or territory. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who do I report a health practitioner to in Australia?
AHPRA, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, receives concerns about registered health practitioners on behalf of the National Boards. It looks at safety concerns such as unsafe care or unprofessional behaviour. In New South Wales and Queensland the arrangements differ, and concerns may go to the Health Care Complaints Commission or the Office of the Health Ombudsman.
Can AHPRA get me a refund?
No. AHPRA states that a National Board cannot award financial compensation or arrange dispute resolution, and it refers complaints about fees and charges to the local health complaints body. Those bodies can investigate fees and charges and may help with compensation or resolving the dispute.
Who is the health complaints commissioner in my state?
New South Wales: Health Care Complaints Commission. Victoria: Health Complaints Commissioner. Queensland: Office of the Health Ombudsman. Western Australia: Health and Disability Services Complaints Office. South Australia: Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner. Tasmania: Health Complaints Commissioner. Northern Territory: Health and Community Services Complaints Commission. ACT: Health Services Commissioner at the ACT Human Rights Commission.
How do I make a privacy complaint about a health provider?
Complain to the provider in writing first. If it does not respond within 30 days, or you are unhappy with its response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC only accepts complaints in writing. In Victoria, the Health Complaints Commissioner also handles health records concerns.
How do I report misleading health advertising?
The TGA takes reports of advertising for medicines and other therapeutic goods that may break the advertising rules, through the Report a breach section of its website. If the concern is about a registered practitioner’s own conduct, AHPRA is the body to contact.
Do I have to complain to the clinic before going to a regulator?
For a privacy complaint, yes. The OAIC asks you to complain to the organisation first and allow 30 days. AHPRA and Queensland’s Office of the Health Ombudsman describe going to the provider first as often the quickest fix, but a serious safety concern can go straight to AHPRA, and anything that may be a crime should also go to the police.
How long does a clinic have to respond to a complaint?
It depends on the clinic’s published process. LeafLine Clinic acknowledges a complaint within 2 business days and gives a response within 30 days. For privacy complaints, the OAIC treats 30 days as the point at which you can escalate if the organisation has not responded.
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