Who we work with

The health ombudsman may refer a health service complaint or other matter to an entity of the State, another State or the Commonwealth with functions that include dealing with the matter.

Working with Ahpra

The OHO provides a single point of entry for health service complaints and operates in a co-regulatory model with the Australian Health Practitioner Agency (Ahpra) when dealing with notifications and complaints about registered health practitioners and students in a registered profession.

Ahpra is a national agency with offices in each state and territory. Ahpra manages the registration and accreditation of all registered health practitioners in Australia. Ahpra works with the 15 National Boards to help protect the public by regulating Australia’s registered health practitioners. Ahpra supports the 15 registered practitioner National Boards in managing the registration and accreditation of registered health practitioners in Australia.

In Queensland, the OHO and Ahpra work together to oversee and regulate registered health practitioners in relation to matters concerning their health, conduct and performance. The OHO and Ahpra work together under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) 2009.

The OHO is the first place to contact for all health service complaints in Queensland, including notifications and information regarding registered health practitioners and students. Complaints and notifications concerning registered health practitioners and students are jointly considered with Ahpra in accordance with the Health Ombudsman Act 2013. The OHO also collaborates with Ahpra on approaches to dealing with the range of issues identified in complaints and notifications about registered health practitioners.

Working with the Queensland Police Service

In Queensland, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) through an agreement with Ahpra and the OHO, notifies and provides certain information to the OHO when registered practitioners are charged/convicted of criminal offences in certain circumstances. The OHO may also be notified by the QPS when an unregistered practitioner is charged or convicted if the conduct indicates that an unregistered practitioner may pose a serious risk.

The OHO has a position embedded within the QPS, known as the Health Ombudsman Liaison Officer (HOLO), which undertakes real-time monitoring for health service providers subject to investigation, charged or convicted with serious criminal offences. Where necessary the OHO's immediate action team can swiftly assess the risks and public interest considerations on these matters and enable the Health Ombudsman to make timely decisions on whether immediate action should be taken to protect public health and safety and maintain confidence in the health system.