The short answer
Only a negligence claim can lead to compensation that a court orders. A complaint to Ahpra, the Health Complaints Commissioner or the hospital cannot force a payment, and none of them stops the three-year time limit for a claim.
General information only — this article is not legal advice.
Each route does a different job. Ahpra and the National Boards act on a practitioner's registration to protect the public, with outcomes such as a caution, conditions or suspension. In Victoria, the Health Complaints Commissioner resolves complaints about health services, and its process can end in an agreed outcome, including a payment if the provider agrees to one. A complaint to the hospital can produce an explanation, an apology and a review of your care. You can use more than one route, and you can complain and claim. The limitation period in the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) keeps running while any complaint is under way, so the claim question is worth asking early.
| Complaint to the hospital or provider | Health Complaints Commissioner | Ahpra notification | Negligence claim | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it looks at | How your care was given and how your concern was handled | A health service or provider in Victoria, and how it dealt with your complaint | Whether a registered practitioner poses a risk to the public | Whether care below the accepted standard caused you injury and loss |
| What it can deliver | An explanation, an apology, a review of the care | Early resolution, conciliation or investigation. An agreed outcome, which can include a payment | No further action, undertakings, conditions, a caution, a reprimand, suspension or cancellation | Compensation, agreed in a settlement or ordered by a court |
| Can it order you to be paid? | No | No. A payment happens only by agreement | No | Yes, a court can |
| When to raise it | Usually first. If it is not resolved in 3 months, you can go to the Commissioner | Within 12 months of the service, unless the Commissioner accepts it later | No statutory time limit | 3 years from when the claim is discoverable, and no more than 12 years from the act or omission |
| Does it pause the time limit for a claim? | No | No | No | This is the time limit |
Statutory periods checked against the authorised versions of the Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic) (version 011) and the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) (version 113) as at 16 October 2026. Longer periods apply to children and people under a disability.
If something went wrong in your care, you may want several things at once: an honest account of what happened, an assurance that it will not happen to someone else, and help with what it has cost you. No single body delivers all three. This guide sets out which route delivers which, so you can choose with the time limit in view.
What can each route actually get you?
A complaint to the hospital or provider. This is usually the first step. The Victorian Department of Health suggests contacting a public hospital directly first, as often the fastest way to resolve a complaint. The Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic) lets you take it to the Commissioner if it is not resolved within 3 months, or straight away where raising it with the provider would be unreasonable or inappropriate (s 5(2)). A hospital can explain what happened, apologise and review the care. When a patient suffers a serious adverse patient safety event, the health service also owes a statutory duty of candour. That means a written account of the facts, an apology, its response and the steps taken to stop it happening again (Health Services Act 1988 (Vic) s 128ZC).
The Health Complaints Commissioner. The Commissioner is Victoria's independent health complaints body. It can try early resolution, run a conciliation if both parties agree to take part (s 40), or investigate (s 45). In a conciliation it can require the provider to produce your health information, its relevant policies and its own investigation documents (s 41). The Commissioner's own fact sheet says claims for damages take place in the courts, but that it can help the parties reach a resolution, including a financial payment, through its complaints and conciliation process. A payment through the Commissioner happens only if the provider agrees to it.
An Ahpra notification. Ahpra regulates individual practitioners, not organisations such as hospitals or clinics. A Board can only take action against a practitioner's registration. The possible outcomes Ahpra lists are no grounds, no further action, referral to another agency, undertakings, conditions, a caution, suspension, a reprimand or cancellation of registration. Ahpra states that a National Board cannot award any financial compensation and cannot make a practitioner apologise.
A negligence claim. A claim asks whether the care fell below the standard of a reasonable practitioner, and whether that probably caused you an injury and loss. It is the only route where a court can order compensation. What you have to prove is set out in How to prove medical negligence in Victoria, and the steps are in How to make a medical negligence claim, step by step.
Can a complaint get you compensation?
Not by order. Ahpra cannot award compensation at all. The Health Complaints Commissioner cannot order a provider to pay you, but its conciliation can end in an agreement that includes a payment. That depends on the provider's willingness, and the agreement is confidential (s 43(1)). Before you sign any agreement that includes a payment, it is worth getting legal advice on what it means for any later claim.
A negligence claim works differently. Compensation follows from proof of breach, causation and loss, not from anyone's agreement. In Victoria, damages for pain and suffering also need a significant injury under Part VBA of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), which Is my claim too small? explains. What compensation you can recover explains the kinds of loss a claim covers.
Can you complain and make a claim at the same time?
Yes. Nothing requires you to pick one. Many people complain first to get answers, then look at a claim.
The routes do interact:
- Complaints reach Ahpra either way. The Commissioner is a health complaints entity under the National Law (Health Complaints Act s 26). Ahpra says it must tell the health complaints body about any concern it receives, and the health complaints body shares concerns about registered practitioners with Ahpra. They then agree who handles it.
- Court proceedings can end a complaint. The Commissioner may refuse to deal with, or stop dealing with, a complaint whose subject matter is before a court (s 14(g)). Once a claim is issued in court, the complaint may close.
- A complaint outcome does not decide a claim. An Ahpra decision to take no further action is a decision about public risk. It is not a finding that the care met the standard. A finding against a practitioner is not proof of a claim either, because a claim also needs causation and loss.
Does making a complaint stop the time limit for a claim?
No. For an adult, a claim must be started within 3 years from the date it is discoverable, and in any case within 12 years from the act or omission, whichever ends first (Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) s 27D). A claim is discoverable when you know, or ought to have known, that the injury happened, that it was caused by someone's fault, and that it is serious enough to justify a claim (s 27F(1)).
Neither the Limitation of Actions Act nor the Health Complaints Act pauses that period while a complaint, a conciliation or an Ahpra notification is under way. A court has a discretion to extend the period in some cases (s 27K), but that is a discretion, not a right, and it should not be relied on.
There is a second way a complaint can matter. In deciding what you knew or ought to have known, a court may look at your own conduct and statements, oral or in writing (s 27F(3)). A complaint letter that says the hospital's error caused your injury is a dated statement of what you understood at the time. That is not a reason to avoid complaining. It is a reason to note the date you complained and keep the time limit in view. More on the rules is in Time limits for medical negligence claims.
Can what you say in a complaint be used in a claim?
It depends on which process you said it in.
- Conciliation with the Commissioner is protected. Evidence of anything said or done in a conciliation is not admissible in any hearing or proceeding in a court or tribunal (Health Complaints Act s 43(3)). A party also must not disclose what was said or done, or any agreement reached, outside the process without consent (s 43(1)–(2)).
- An apology is not an admission. Under the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), an apology does not amount to an admission of liability (s 14J), and nor does a reduction or waiver of fees (s 14K). An apology given under the duty of candour is not an admission of liability and is not admissible as evidence of fault (Health Services Act 1988 (Vic) s 128ZD). The facts in a written account can still be relevant (s 128ZD(4)).
- Other letters are ordinary documents. The conciliation protection in s 43 is about what happens in a conciliation. A letter to the hospital, the hospital's reply, or an Ahpra outcome letter is not covered by it. These documents are often useful to a claim, so keep copies of everything you send and receive.
Which route should you start with?
Start with what you want.
- If you want an explanation or an apology, raise it with the hospital or provider. If it is a serious adverse patient safety event, the duty of candour applies.
- If the provider's response has not resolved it, take it to the Health Complaints Commissioner. The 12-month window in s 8 runs from the end of the service, and the Commissioner can accept a later complaint where the circumstances require it.
- If you are worried a practitioner poses a risk to other patients, raise a concern with Ahpra.
- If the care has cost you, through further treatment, lost income or a lasting injury, have the claim looked at, whatever else you are doing. Request your records early, because they are the evidence a claim is assessed on. How to get your medical records in Victoria explains how.
If a public hospital was involved, Can you sue a Victorian public hospital? covers who the claim is against. If you are unsure whether a claim is worth exploring, you can start a free assessment while a complaint is still running. You will be told plainly where you stand, and our lawyers make every legal decision.
Common questions
Can Ahpra or the Health Complaints Commissioner award compensation?
No. Ahpra and the National Boards can only take action on a practitioner's registration, and cannot award compensation or make a practitioner apologise. The Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner cannot order a payment either, but its conciliation process can end in an agreement that includes a payment if the provider agrees. Only a court can order compensation, through a negligence claim.
Does a complaint to Ahpra or the Health Complaints Commissioner stop the time limit for a negligence claim?
No. In Victoria an adult has 3 years from the date a claim is discoverable, and no more than 12 years from the act or omission, under the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic). Nothing in that Act or the Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic) pauses the period while a complaint, conciliation or Ahpra notification is under way.
Can you make a complaint and a medical negligence claim at the same time?
Yes. You can complain to the hospital, the Health Complaints Commissioner or Ahpra and also pursue a claim. The Commissioner may stop dealing with a complaint once its subject matter is before a court, and Ahpra and the Commissioner share concerns about registered practitioners with each other.
Can what you say in a Health Complaints Commissioner conciliation be used in court?
No. Evidence of anything said or done in a conciliation is not admissible in any court or tribunal proceeding, and what is said and any agreement reached are confidential. That protection covers conciliation only. Letters to the hospital and its replies are ordinary documents.
How long do you have to complain to the Health Complaints Commissioner?
A complaint is generally due within 12 months after the health service was provided, or after it was sought if it was not provided. The Commissioner can deal with a later complaint if satisfied that the circumstances require it. Ahpra has no statutory time limit for raising a concern.
Sources
- Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic), authorised version 113: ss 27D, 27E, 27F, 27K
- Health Complaints Act 2016 (Vic), authorised version 011: ss 5, 8, 14, 26, 40, 41, 43, 45
- Health Services Act 1988 (Vic), authorised version 190: ss 128ZC, 128ZD
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), authorised version 130: ss 14I, 14J, 14K, 28LB
- Health Complaints Commissioner Victoria, Medical negligence fact sheet
- Health Complaints Commissioner Victoria, Make a complaint
- Victorian Department of Health, Submit a complaint
- Ahpra, Possible outcomes
- Ahpra, Health complaints organisations
- Ahpra, Notifications: further information
- Safer Care Victoria, Duty of candour resources for patients, families and their carers