Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Victoria

What types of complaints can you make?

You can complain to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission about publicly funded mental health and wellbeing services in Victoria. This includes services run by public hospitals or other organisations funded by the Victorian Government.

The MHWC accepts complaints from people who have received care themselves, as well as from family members, carers, and supporters.

You can complain about:

• ‍Poor treatment or care:
  
  • If the care you received was inappropriate, neglectful, or unsafe.
  • If staff didn’t meet expected standards, ignored your needs, or failed to provide proper support.
  • If you were discharged too early or left without a proper plan for support.

• ‍Unsafe or overly restrictive practices:
  
  • ‍If you were restrained, secluded, or sedated when it wasn’t necessary.
  • If you were placed in an unsafe environment or not treated with respect and care.

• ‍Problems with peer workers or lived experience staff:
  
  • If a peer worker acted unprofessionally, broke your trust, or made you feel unsafe.

• ‍Trouble accessing services:‍
  
  • If you were refused care, had unreasonably long wait times, or couldn’t get help when you needed it.‍

• ‍Families and carers being excluded:
  
  • If you are a carer or support person and were ignored or excluded, even when the consumer agreed to your involvement.

• ‍Rights and dignity not being respected:
  
  • If your choices or autonomy were ignored.
  • If staff made decisions about you without involving you.
  • If your treatment didn’t follow the principles of respectful and person-centred care.

• ‍Discrimination or lack of cultural safety:
  
  • If you were treated unfairly because of your race, culture, gender, language, sexuality, age, or any other part of your identity.
  • If the service wasn’t culturally safe, didn’t provide an interpreter, or made you feel excluded.

• ‍Privacy or confidentiality breaches:
  
  • If your personal information was shared without consent or handled in a careless way.

• ‍Poor handling of a previous complaint:
  
  • If the mental health service ignored your complaint, took too long to respond, gave you a poor response, or treated you unfairly for speaking up.

• ‍Broader, service-wide problems:
  
  • If you notice ongoing issues that affect many people, like understaffing, unsafe facilities, or poor service culture.

• ‍Failure to follow through on promised improvements:
  
  • If a service said it would fix something but never did.

• ‍Serious or unethical staff behaviour:
  
  • If, during a complaint or investigation, you become aware of serious misconduct like abuse, bullying, dishonesty, or professional breaches.

What complaints MHWC can’t take:

• Private or federal services, including psychologists paid through Medicare or private mental health clinics.
• Services provided outside Victoria, even if the provider is based in Victoria.
• Diagnosis disagreements, unless linked to a rights or treatment issue.
• Requests for second opinions or clinical decisions made lawfully and respectfully.
• Tribunal decisions, like compulsory treatment orders (though you can complain about how the decision was carried out).
• Personal disputes between patients, unless the service failed to manage it properly.
• Medical record requests, unless the issue is part of a broader care or rights concern.
• Criminal conduct by other patients, which should be reported to police, unless the service failed to protect your safety.
• Future or hypothetical issues, unless they are already affecting you now.

Time limits:

You usually must complain within 12 months of when the issue happened, or when you tried to access a service and were refused.

The MHWC can make exceptions if there’s a good reason, such as if you were unwell, afraid to complain, or didn’t know you could.

Other things to know:

• You don’t need to know the law. Just explain what happened in your own words.
• You can complain confidentially or anonymously, although this might limit what MHWC can do.
• You can still complain even if you’re on a compulsory treatment order.
• The MHWC may try to resolve the issue informally first.
• The Commission can investigate serious issues on its own, even if no one complains.

Who can you make a complaint against?

You can complain to the MHWC about the actions or behaviour of any publicly funded mental health or wellbeing service in Victoria, and the people who work for them.

This includes:

• ‍Individual workers, such as:
  
  • Mental health professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers).
  • Peer workers or lived experience workers.
  • Case managers, support workers, and outreach staff.
  • Administrative staff, if their actions affected your care.
    
    These individuals must be working for a publicly funded service (not in private practice).

• ‍Public services and organisations, including:‍
  
  • Public hospitals and mental health wards: including inpatient, outpatient, and emergency mental health care.‍
  • Community mental health teams: such as Crisis Assessment and Treatment (CAT) Teams.‍
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals: new government-funded hubs for adults aged 26+.‍
  • Youth area mental health services: for young people aged roughly 12–25.‍
  • Aged persons mental health services: supporting older adults with mental illness.‍
  • Forensic mental health services:  including those delivered in prisons or to people involved with the justice system.‍
  • Non-clinical services: like community-based psychosocial support services, peer programs, or wellbeing services funded by the state.‍
  • Designated providers: any service formally recognised under Victorian law as a public mental health service.

You cannot complain to the MHWC about:

• Private hospitals or private mental health clinics: these fall under the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC).
• Private psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs, or counsellors: unless they work within the public system.
• Medicare or federally funded services: like Head to Health centres or Primary Health Network programs.
• NDIS providers and disability services, unless they’re separately funded for public mental health care.
• Unregistered support groups: such as peer forums, community collectives, or volunteer groups not funded by the state.
• Complaints solely about a clinician’s professional conduct, such as boundary breaches or unethical behaviour.

Are you eligible to make a complaint?

Anyone can make a complaint to the MHWC, including consumers, carers, family members, and supporters.

You don’t need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and making a complaint won’t affect your visa. Your privacy will always be protected.

This includes:

• ‍Consumers (people who received or needed care): You can complain about your own experience with a Victorian public mental health or wellbeing service.‍
• Carers, family members or supporters: You can complain about your own experience. For example, if you were excluded, ignored, or treated unfairly while supporting someone receiving care. You can also complain on behalf of the person you support, but you may need their consent if the complaint involves access to their health information.‍
• Authorised representatives: If the person you're complaining for can’t provide consent due to age, illness, or disability, the MHWC may accept complaints from:
  
  • Legal guardians
  • Lawyers
  • Others with formal authority‍
• ‍Oversight bodies: Certain organisations can refer complaints to the MHWC, including:
  
  • Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
  • Health Complaints Commissioner
  • Disability Services Commissioner
  • Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
  • NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Do I need to complain to the service first?

You don’t have to, but it can help.

Contacting the service directly can sometimes fix the issue more quickly. If it doesn’t help (or you don’t feel safe doing so) you can still make a complaint to the MHWC.

The MHWC may decide not to accept a complaint if:

• You’re complaining for someone else but can’t provide consent (unless you’re legally authorised, or they can’t consent due to incapacity).
• You have no direct connection to the matter (e.g. you only heard about it and weren’t involved).
  • Exception: The MHWC may still investigate if the issue suggests a serious or systemic risk.
• You remain anonymous and the MHWC can’t follow up (anonymous complaints are allowed, but they must include enough detail to act on).
• You’ve already made the same complaint and it was resolved.
• The complaint isn’t genuine or is made in bad faith (e.g. made to harass, intimidate, or damage someone’s reputation).

Other things to know:

• The MHWC’s services are free.
• You don’t need a lawyer, but you can get legal advice if you want.
• The MHWC may try to resolve complaints early by speaking with you, the service, and anyone else involved.

What can this body do to help?

The MHWC has different ways to resolve complaints, from simple advice to formal investigations. Their aim is to fix problems fairly and make services safer and more respectful.

Ways the MHWC can help:

• Advice and support: They can give you guidance on how to raise the issue yourself, or contact the service on your behalf.
• Referrals: If another body (like Ahpra or the Health Complaints Commissioner) is better placed to help, the MHWC can refer your complaint.
• Early resolution: Many complaints are sorted quickly through calls or letters, often resulting in an explanation, apology, or change in practice.
• Formal resolution: For more complex matters, the MHWC can gather written responses, review documents, and set out agreed improvements.
• Conciliation: A confidential meeting with a conciliator where you and the service try to reach an agreement (you may bring a lawyer or support person).
• Investigations: For serious or systemic issues, the MHWC can investigate in detail. They can’t award money, but they can require services to change practices, improve safety, apologise, or publish reports.
• Enforcement: Services may be required to fix issues through formal undertakings or compliance notices. The MHWC can also monitor whether promised changes are carried out.

What the MHWC cannot do:

• Give you compensation or damages.
• Change legal orders or diagnoses (e.g. compulsory treatment decisions).

Possible outcomes: The MHWC focuses on the “4 As”:

• Acknowledgement: your experience is recognised.
• Answers: clear explanations are given.
• Actions: steps are taken to fix problems.
• Apology: a genuine apology is offered.

Withdrawing your complaint: You can withdraw your complaint at any time. The MHWC may still continue if there are safety concerns, if you were pressured to withdraw, or if it’s in the public interest.

How to prepare your complaint:

When you make a complaint to the MHWC, it helps to include clear details so they can understand your situation and act quickly.

What to include:

• Your details: name, phone, and contact information.
  • You can ask the MHWC to keep your identity confidential.
  • You can also complain anonymously, but this may limit what they can do.
• The service you’re complaining about: the name and location, if you know them. The MHWC can help you identify the right service.
• What happened: a short summary of the issue, when and where it occurred, and whether the service already knows about it.
• What outcome you want: for example: acknowledgement, an explanation, an apology, or actions to fix the problem.
• Your connection to the complaint: whether it happened to you or to someone you support, and your relationship to that person.
• Supporting documents: such as letters, emails, or reports. If you lodge online, you can upload attachments (up to 20MB each, max 50MB total).
• Accessibility needs: tell the MHWC if you need an interpreter, assistance with communication, or preferred times to be contacted.

What not to include:

• Do not provide false or misleading information.

Extra support:

The MHWC must provide reasonable assistance to anyone making a complaint. They can help you:

• identify the right service,
• work out what to include, or
• arrange a free interpreter if needed.

Lodging your complaint and next steps:

How to lodge:

You can lodge a complaint in any of these ways:

• Phone: 1800 246 054 (free call, Mon–Fri, 9am–4:30pm, except public holidays).
• Online: complete the online form HERE.
• Email: help@mhwc.vic.gov.au.
• Post: Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Level 26, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000.

The MHWC recommends starting with a phone call, especially for urgent or time-sensitive issues.

What happens after you lodge:

• Acknowledgement: Your complaint will usually be acknowledged promptly (immediately if online/email, or by phone/post within a reasonable time). You’ll be given a case reference number.
• Initial assessment: The MHWC checks whether they or another organisation are best placed to handle the issue. If another agency is more suitable, they will give you the contact details or arrange a referral.
• Early resolution: Many complaints are resolved quickly by clarifying the issue with both you and the service over the phone.
• Formal resolution or conciliation: If needed, the MHWC may develop a resolution plan, request written responses, hold meetings, or arrange conciliation (a private and confidential meeting where both sides try to agree on a solution).
• Investigation: For serious or complex complaints, the MHWC can carry out a detailed investigation. They may require the service to provide documents, attend hearings, or take action to fix problems.

Agreements and follow-up:

• If a resolution is reached, it is recorded in writing and shared with both parties.
• The MHWC may check later that agreed changes have been made.
• If a party withdraws from the process, the MHWC can stop, investigate instead, or take no further action.

More information:

Refer to the factsheet provided below for more information.