Get help or raise a concern with the Social Services Regulator

The Social Services Regulator (SSR) regulates the Reportable Conduct Scheme, the Worker and Carer Exclusion Scheme, the Working with Children Check, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Screening Check, the Child Safe Standards, and the Social Services Standards.

You could have:

• Concerns for the safety of a social service user

• Concerns about an organisation’s compliance with the requirements of the Child Safe Standards or Reportable Conduct Scheme

• Concerns that an organisation has failed to obtain Working with Children Checks for volunteers or staff

• Concerns about a worker in out of home care.

Feedback and concerns from the community, including service users, assists us to regulate for safe service delivery.

If you have a complaint about an organisation or service provider, you are encouraged to raise it directly with them in the first instance. It is important to note that the SSR is not a complaints body and does not offer a conciliation or mediation service for service users or provide legal advice or advocacy.

Despite this, we have a ‘no wrong door’ approach and work with other organisations, including those who take complaints. If your concern is not something the SSR can assist you with, we will do our best to connect you with people who can.

When a person makes a disclosure in good faith, they will not be subject to any liability in respect of the disclosure. Disclosures can be made anonymously.

In an emergency always call 000.

You can raise a concern about an organisation we regulate or the safety of a service user, including children and young people with us via phone or email. The email contact details vary between schemes we regulate, for more details please see below.

Community members or service users raising a concern relating to the Social Services Standards, the Child Safe Standards, or the Reportable Conduct Scheme can email contact@ssr.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window) or call 1300 310 778.

If you would like to raise a concern about a worker or carer under the Worker and Carer Exclusion Scheme you should do so using the Worker and Carer Exclusion Scheme notification form.

Completed forms and any relevant attachments must be encrypted and password-protected before being emailed to WCESdatabase@ssr.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window).

Working with Children Check concerns should be directed to the Victorian Government Contact Centre, available: 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday:

Calls in Australia: 1300 366 356(opens in a new window)

Calls from overseas: +61 3 7003 8932(opens in a new window)

For help specifically relating to the WWCC and WWCC application process, including complaints, please send a message via the online form.

You can also check the status of a WWCC card or a pending application.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Screening Check (NDIS Check)

For concerns related to NDIS Worker Screening Checks, please contact Service Victoria’s customer contact centre on 1300 652 879(opens in a new window) or 132 VIC(opens in a new window) (132 842) Monday to Friday – 9am-4pm.

Service Victoria can alternatively be contacted via webform(opens in a new window) or through their virtual assistant Vicky(opens in a new window).

Other organisations that can help with your concern

• Victoria Police can be contacted on 000 for any concern about the immediate safety of a person. You can call 131 444 to report some non-urgent crime and events to Victoria Police, more information can be found here: Police Assistance Line and online reporting(opens in a new window)

• Child Protection(opens in a new window) receives concerns about a child who may be in need of protection from harm, abuse or neglect. Certain groups of people must report a reasonable belief of child physical or sexual abuse to child protection authorities. Find information on how to make a mandatory report.

• The Victorian Ombudsman(opens in a new window) has the power to investigate complaints about state and local government authorities.

• Decisions made by Child Protection – contact the Victorian Ombudsman(opens in a new window) and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing(opens in a new window)

• Early childhood education – contact the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority(opens in a new window)

• Aged care – contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission(opens in a new window)

• Rooming houses – contact Consumer Affairs Victoria(opens in a new window)

• The Victorian Disability Worker Commission(opens in a new window) can help with complaints about disability workers in Victoria only.

• The Disability Services Commissioner(opens in a new window) can take complaints about disability services funded by the Department of Families. Fairness and Housing; TAC and WorkSafe

• The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission(opens in a new window) takes complaints about supports and services funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

• The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission(opens in a new window) takes complaints about public mental health and wellbeing service in Victoria.

• The Health Complaints Commissioner(opens in a new window) takes complaints about how your health information is handled as well as health service providers in Victoria, including public or private hospitals, community health services, registered providers such as doctors and dentists or non-registered providers such as counsellors and alternative therapists.

• The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency(opens in a new window) can look into safety concerns raised about registered health practitioners, students, and unregistered people claiming to be health practitioners.

• For mental health or wellbeing support, you can contact Headspace (opens in a new window)(opens in a new window) or Beyond Blue(opens in a new window).

Contact us on 1300 310 778 or at contact@ssr.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window) if you need help identifying the right referral pathway.