Fee to lodge a complaint

Do I need to pay a fee to lodge a complaint?

There is a fee of $110 (incl GST) to make a complaint to the Commissioner.  However, the Commissioner has a discretion to reduce or to waive the fee depending upon your personal circumstances. 

You can make an application for a fee reduction or fee waiver prior to or at the time of lodging your complaint.

Reduced or waived fee

On application, the Commissioner may reduce the fee to be paid to $55 (incl GST) or waive the fee entirely.

Factors that will be taken into account by the Commissioner when deciding to waive the fee include:

• being a full time student (student identification required);
• holding a valid concessions card including:
  • Pensioner Concession Card;
  • Health Care Card;
  • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card; and
  • Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card; and
• a grant of legal aid within the last 3 months.

The Commissioner may also consider other applications by a complainant to reduce or waive the fee payable due to financial hardship.  To consider an application as to financial hardship, the complainant will need to provide at least one (and ideally more) of the following supporting information and documentation:

• information and evidence of assets and liabilities;
• the last four weeks of bank statements relating to all bank accounts in sole or joint names;
• Centrelink income and assets statements;
• the last four weeks of payslips;
• tax returns for the previous financial year;
• any other financial information including overdue bills etc.

If a fee reduction or waiver is not granted, the complainant must pay the fee in full before the Commissioner will consider the complaint.

Fee refund

The Commissioner will refund any fee that a complainant has paid if:

• in the case of a complaint about a practitioner's conduct, he ultimately finds that the practitioner complained about has engaged in misconduct; and
• in the case of a complaint of overcharging, he ultimately finds that there has been overcharging, or if there is a recommendation, order or agreement that the practitioner reduces a charge or refunds an amount.

The Commissioner also has a complete discretion to refund any fee that has been paid in any other circumstances.