From 1 November 2025, the new Aged Care Act will strengthen your right to provide feedback and raise concerns. At Warrigal, we believe that your voice is essential to helping us continuously improve our services and maintain the highest standards of care and that no person will be subject to discrimination, retaliation or any adverse consequences for making a complaint or providing feedback.

The new Act places a stronger emphasis than ever on ensuring that older people, their families, and carers can speak up freely and be heard. This represents a significant shift toward transparency, accountability, and person-centred care.

Putting You at the Centre of Aged Care

The new Aged Care Act fundamentally changes how aged care works in Australia by putting older people at the heart of everything.

Here’s how: 

• Stronger Protections
  Your rights are now legally enforceable, giving you greater protection and peace of mind. The Statement of Rights is embedded directly into the Act, ensuring older people receiving care are treated with dignity and respect, receive safe and quality care, provide feedback or make complaints without fear of reprisal, access advocacy services and have supported persons involved.
• Supported Decision-Making
  You can register one or more people of your choice to help you make decisions while maintaining control over your life. Registered Supporters assist you without taking away your autonomy.
• Improved Complaints Process
  Aged care providers now have improved systems to manage complaints more effectively, while residents, clients, their families, and carers continue to have direct access to the independent Complaints Commissioner for impartial oversight.
• Enhanced Whistleblower Protections
  Stronger protections exist for anyone who speaks up about aged care issues, including residents, families, and staff. You can report serious concerns safely and confidentially.

These four key changes work together to create a system that truly centres on you—your rights, your voice, and your wellbeing.

Why Your Feedback Matters

Complaints and feedback are not just regulatory obligations, they are vital opportunities to strengthen trust, learn, and improve. Every compliment celebrates what we’re doing well, and every concern or suggestion gives us a chance to listen, act, and improve our services.

By sharing your experiences with us, you help us understand what matters most to you and where we can continue to grow. Your feedback directly informs how we deliver care, support our teams, and shape our services to better meet your needs.

What’s Changed Under the New Act?

The Aged Care Act 2024 introduces important protections and pathways for feedback and complaints:

• No Retaliation
  The right of older people, families, carers, and aged care workers to provide feedback or make complaints without fear of punishment or unfair treatment is now formally protected under law.
• Strengthened Quality Standards
  The new Strengthened Quality Standards require providers, like Warrigal, to implement a system that ensures they actively listen to and incorporate feedback to ensure care is tailored to individual needs and delivered to the highest standards.
• Stronger Whistleblower Protections
  The new Act offers expanded protections for those who report serious concerns about registered providers, responsible persons, or aged care workers. Whistleblowers are protected by law when raising concerns about misconduct, illegal activity, abuse, neglect, fraud, safety breaches, or breaches of the Aged Care Act. 
• Direct Complaint Pathway
  You can now make a complaint directly to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, even if you have not first raised it with Warrigal. While we encourage you to give us the opportunity to address concerns directly, this pathway ensures you have independent options available.
• Right to Support
  You have the right to support from an independent advocate to help you understand your rights and make complaints. Advocates can assist you throughout the complaints process.

Understanding Feedback Categories

At Warrigal, we have organised feedback into four categories to ensure we respond appropriately to your concerns:

• Compliments – Recognising positive experiences and the people who made a difference
• Improvement Suggestions – Recommendations to enhance our services, communication, environment, or processes
• Minor Complaints – Concerns causing inconvenience or dissatisfaction without impacting safety or wellbeing
• Major Complaints – Serious concerns affecting safety, wellbeing, dignity, or rights

How to Provide Feedback to Warrigal

We’ve made it easy for you to share your thoughts with us through multiple accessible channels:

• By phone – Call us toll-free on 1800 927 744
• Online form – Visit warrigal.com.au/contact-us/feedback
• By email – Send your feedback to warrigal@warrigal.com.au
• In person – Speak with any member of our team at your location
• In writing – Provide written feedback to staff at your location
• Share Your Thoughts Cards – Provided at each Residential Care Home
• QR link – Speak directly to staff to direct you to these

All feedback is acknowledged promptly. Complaints are acknowledged within 2-7 days, and you will be kept informed throughout the process.

What Happens When You Provide Feedback?

When you share feedback or raise a concern with Warrigal:

• Your feedback is treated seriously and investigated thoroughly
• You are kept informed throughout the resolution process
• Your feedback is handled confidentially and respectfully, with no fear of reprisal or negative consequences
• We work toward timely resolution and will update you if there are delays
• Your feedback helps drive continuous improvement across our services

Additional Complaint Pathways

Aged Care Complaints Commissioner

If you wish to make a complaint directly to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, you can:

• Online: agedcarequality.gov.au/making-complaint
• Phone: 1800 951 822
• TTY (hearing/speech impaired): 1800 555 677, then ask for 1800 951 822
• Interpreter services: Call 131 450 and ask to be connected to 1800 951 822
• In writing: Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, GPO Box 9819, Your Capital City

Whistleblower Protections

If you need to report serious concerns such as abuse, neglect, fraud, safety breaches, or breaches of the Aged Care Act, you are protected under Warrigal’s Whistleblower Policy and the Aged Care Act 2024.

You can report concerns confidentially and anonymously through our external whistleblowing service:

• Online: www.whistleblowingservice.com.au/warrigal
• Phone: 1300 687 927 (Unique Key: Warrigal, Client Reference: Warrigal2024)

When you make a disclosure in good faith, you are protected through complete confidentiality, protection from retaliation, independent investigation, and legal protections.

For more information about Warrigal’s Whistleblower Policy, visit warrigal.com.au/about-warrigal/policies or speak with your care coordinator.

Our Commitment to You

At Warrigal, we are committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable speaking up. The new Aged Care Act reinforces our longstanding commitment to putting you at the centre of everything we do.

Your feedback, whether it’s a compliment, suggestion, or concern, helps us create a world where older people are known, loved, and connected.

If you have questions about how to provide feedback or make a complaint, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We’re here to listen, learn, and work together with you.

Resources for More Information

Warrigal Feedback and Complaints

• Warrigal Feedback Form
• Phone: 1800 927 744
• Email: warrigal@warrigal.com.au

Aged Care Complaints Commissioner

• Making a Complaint
• Complaints and Feedback Management Resources

Statement of Rights and Registered Supporters

• Statement of Rights Blog Post
• Registered Supporters Blog Post
• About the new rights-based Aged Care Act

 Advocacy Support

• Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN): 1800 700 600

Accessible Information

Information about complaints and feedback is available in multiple formats:

• Plain English fact sheets
• Easy Read versions with visual aids
• Multiple languages and interpreter services (call 131 450)

Audio versions and other accessible formats