Complaints

If you think you’ve been treated wrongly by a Victorian public organisation, we can see if your problem can be fixed.

Start an online complaint

Who can I complain about?

We can look into:

  • Councils
    • Services, communication, complaint handling, unreasonable actions or decisions
  • Victorian government departments

    For example:

    • Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
    • Department of Education
    • Department of Justice and Community Safety
  • Victorian government organisations

    For example:

    • WorkSafe Victoria
    • VicRoads
    • Fines Victoria
  • Victorian universities and TAFEs
  • Non-government entities
    • Non-government entities that are engaged by Victorian public organisations to provide services
  • Prisons
  • Certain professional boards

    For example:

    • Architects Registration Board of Victoria
    • Victorian Legal Services Board

We cannot look into:

  • Private organisations
    • Banking, credit, insurance or superannuation*
    • Buying or renting products or services
    • Electricity, gas or water
    • Phone or internet services
    • Legal professionals or lawyers

    *ESS Super is the only superannuation organisation we have the power to investigate.

  • Victoria Police
  • Disputes between individuals
  • Commonwealth government organisations

    For example:

    • Centrelink
    • Australian Taxation Office
    • Services Australia (Child Support)
    • Australia Post
  • Decisions made by courts and tribunals

What is the complaint process?

We deal with most complaints within 30 days. Complaints that are complex can take longer before we make a final decision.

Step 1: Tell us what has happened

We receive your complaint and acknowledge it within 5 business days.

Step 2: We look into your complaint

Many complaints can be fixed by us contacting the relevant organisation.

Step 3: We may look into your complaint further

We'll see if we can resolve your complaint and if not whether we should investigate. We only investigate less than 10% of complaints we receive.

Learn more about the investigation process

Step 4: You receive an outcome

We reach a decision and contact you about the outcome.

Prison illustration

Common complaint topics

Read about common complaint types, our role in cases and browse some related case examples.

Case examples

Read about similar cases to yours and find out how we might handle your complaint.

View all case examples

Common questions