Complaints Policy

If something about your care or your experience with Advanced Performance Clinic has not been right, we want to hear about it. Raising a concern will not affect the care you receive, and you do not need to use any particular form of words.

How to make a complaint

Email us at [email protected], or write to us at PO Box 6006, Townsville, QLD, 4810. Please tell us what happened, when it happened, and what outcome you are looking for. If you would like someone to raise a concern on your behalf, such as a family member, carer or advocate, let us know and we will confirm your consent before we discuss your information with them.

You do not have to complain to us first. You can go directly to any of the external bodies listed below at any time.

What happens next

We aim to acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days of receiving it, and to tell you who is handling it. We aim to give you a substantive response within 30 days. If a matter is complex and takes longer, we will tell you why and keep you updated on where it is up to.

Where a complaint involves clinical care, it is reviewed by a suitably qualified practitioner who was not involved in the care in question, wherever that is practicable. Where it involves fees or administration, it is reviewed by our care team.

What you can expect from us

• We will treat your complaint seriously and handle it confidentially, in line with our Privacy Policy.
• We will explain what we found, in plain language, and what we are doing about it.
• Where we got something wrong, we will say so and put it right where we can.
• Where we disagree with your complaint, we will explain our reasoning and tell you how to escalate it.
• We will not charge you for making a complaint or for our handling of it.

If you are not satisfied with our response

You can escalate your complaint to an external body at any point, whether or not you have raised it with us first. Which one depends on what your concern is about.

Concerns about a practitioner's conduct, performance or health can be raised with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) at www.ahpra.gov.au or on 1300 419 495.

Concerns about a health service can be raised with the health complaints body in your state or territory. Each state and territory has its own commissioner or ombudsman for health services, and they can tell you whether your concern is one they handle.

Concerns about how we handled your personal or health information can be raised with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. Our Privacy Policy sets out the privacy complaints process in more detail.

Concerns about fees, billing or the terms of a service can be raised with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or your state or territory consumer affairs body. Nothing in this policy or our Terms of Service limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

Records and improvement

We keep a record of complaints and how they were resolved, and we review them so that recurring problems get fixed rather than handled case by case. Complaint records are held in line with the retention periods in our Privacy Policy.

In an emergency

This policy is for complaints. It is not a channel for urgent clinical matters. If you or someone else is at risk or facing a medical emergency, call 000. For mental health support, you can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14.