Complaints & feedback

This is a working draft prepared for review. It is not legal advice and will be reviewed by a qualified professional before this site launches.

If something about your experience with this practice hasn’t been right, whether in a session, with a booking, with your privacy, or anything else, complaints are how a practice improves, and they’re received in that spirit. Raising one won’t affect the care you receive. This page sets out your options, from the most direct to the most formal. You can start wherever you feel comfortable. You’re not required to talk to Adrianne first if you’d rather go straight to an independent body.

Step 1: Talk to Adrianne

Most concerns are resolved fastest by raising them directly. You can:

• bring it up in a session (this is genuinely welcome; naming a rupture is often useful therapeutic work in itself); or
• email Veloracounselling@outlook.com.au with as much or as little detail as you like.

What you can expect:

• acknowledgment of your complaint within 3 business days;
• a considered response within 14 days;
• no defensiveness, and no change in how you’re treated as a client.

If you’re a current client and would prefer not to continue sessions while a complaint is being resolved, that will be respected, and rescheduling or refunds for prepaid sessions will be handled fairly.

Step 2: The professional body

If you’d rather not raise it directly, or you’re not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the professional body Adrianne is registered with, the Australian Counselling Association (ACA).

• The ACA handles ethical complaints against its registered counsellors under its Code of Ethics and Practice and complaints procedures.
• Start at theaca.net.au (look for the complaints section) with your details, the practitioner’s name, and a description of what happened.
• Complaining to the professional body is free, independent of the practice, and doesn’t require you to have spoken to Adrianne first.

Step 3: For privacy concerns, the OAIC

If your complaint is about how your personal information has been handled and you’re not satisfied after raising it with the practice, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

• Online: oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

The OAIC generally expects you to have complained to the organisation first and allowed 30 days for a response. Our privacy policy explains the internal privacy complaint process.

Other avenues

• Consumer matters (fees, refunds, cancellations): the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, at qld.gov.au/fairtrading or 13 QGOV (13 74 68).
• Health service concerns in Queensland: the Office of the Health Ombudsman accepts complaints about any health service provided in Queensland, including counselling, at oho.qld.gov.au or 133 646.

A note on urgent situations

This complaints process isn’t monitored urgently. If you’re in immediate danger, call 000; if you need someone to talk to now, Lifeline is available 24 hours on 13 11 14.