At Associated Counsellors & Psychologists Sydney, we strive for best practice and endeavour to provide our customers with the best possible service. To this end, we encourage your comments and feedback so that we can improve our systems and our service.
If you have a comment or suggestion about our service or our website, please email us at info (at) counsellingsydney.com.au or use our contact form.
See our Counsellor Therapist Guarantee
There are two categories of complaint with differing procedures. If your complaint is about an administrative matter or about the way your enquiry was handled when you called us, then please follow procedure A below.
If your complaint is about your psychologist or counsellor or about your clinical care, then please follow procedure B below.
A. Complaints Concerning Intake & Administration
If you wish to make a complaint about the service you received when making a booking (our ‘intake service’), or any aspects of our administrative service, please contact our office at our central phone number shown at the top of this page, or make a complaint in writing to info (at) counsellingsydney.com.au
We will contact you within 2 business days to acknowledge receipt of your complaint. At this time we will advise you of the steps we will take to help resolve your concerns.
B. Complaints Concerning Clinical Matters
To make a complaint about your counsellor or psychologist or any aspects of your clinical experience please follow these steps:
1. In the first instance, consider raising your complaint directly with your therapist. A discussion with the clinician can often help to resolve your concerns and to clarify any misunderstandings that might exist. If you do not have direct contact details for your therapist, please contact our office at the central phone number at the top of this page or by email on admin (at) counsellingsydney.com.au
2. If you do not feel comfortable discussing your complaint directly with your therapist, or you are dissatisfied with the response you receive, you can lodge a formal complaint with your therapist’s professional membership body.
Your counsellor’s work is governed by the codes of conduct of the professional association to which they belong:
If your therapist is a Registered or Clinical Psychologist, you can contact the Australian Psychological Society or the Psychology Board of Australia to register your complaint.
Otherwise, your therapist will likely be a member of the Psychology and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) through one of its constituent membership bodies, or a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers.
If you are unsure of which professional body to approach with your complaint, please contact our office at our central phone number at the top of this page and we would be pleased to assist.
Contact details for the most common professional counselling associations are listed below.
Australian Psychological Society
Level 11, 257 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 8662 3300
Toll free: 1800 333 497
Fax: (03) 9663 6177
www.psychology.org.au
contactus@psychology.org.au
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
(Psychology Board of Australia)
Level 51, 680 George Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Tel: 1300 419 495
www.ahpra.gov.au
Psychology and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)
290 Park Street, Fitzroy North, VIC 3068
Tel: (03) 9486 3077
Fax: (03) 9486 3933
www.pacfa.org.au
admin@pacfa.org.au
Australian Association of Social Workers
Level 4, 224 – 236 Queen Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9642 2967
www.aasw.asn.au
ethicscomplaint@aasw.asn.au
Australian Counselling Association
Unit 2/42 Finsbury Street Newmarket Qld 4051
Tel: 1300 784 333
www.theaca.net.au
Gestalt Australian & New Zealand
PO Box 398
Fairfield, VIC. 3078
Tel: (03) 9010 5501
www.ganz.org.au
contact@ganz.org.au
For a full list of PACFA’s member associations, please see here http://www.pacfa.org.au/memberassoc
3. It is also possible to register a complaint with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission. For more information visit www.hccc.nsw.gov.au
In line with our ethical responsibility to ensure client confidentiality, we cannot accept complaints from someone other than the client who is receiving the counselling care. Please assist the client to make a complaint directly according to the above procedures.