Online Complaint Form

About this form

If you think that it will take you more than 90 minutes to provide details of your complaint do not start completing this form now. Instead, type and save the details of your complaint in a separate document, then copy the text and restart this online complaint form. When you reach Step 3 you can paste your complaint details directly into the form.

Please note: fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

Caution: Email and online forms are not encrypted. Security of the transmission cannot be ensured. This form cannot be saved and re-opened and continued at a later time. You can also make a complaint in writing, by fax or by telephone.

What happens to your complaint?

Your complaint will be given careful prompt attention. It will be acknowledged, in writing, as soon as possible after it is received. Many complaints are finalised quickly. Complex or formal investigation may take much longer. If we do not take up your complaint, we will tell you why.

Making a complaint on behalf of someone else

Anyone can make a complaint. If you do not want to make the complaint yourself, you can ask a person not directly associated with the complaint to make a complaint on your behalf. For example, a solicitor or family member can submit a complaint for you. If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else we may need to contact them to confirm details of the complaint.

Making an anonymous complaint

We accept anonymous complaints but you will need to provide sufficient information to enable us to consider your complaint.
Please note: Feedback will not be provided for anonymous complainants.

How we use this information

This information will help us to investigate your complaint. We will keep your personal information as confidential as possible. There may be some circumstances when your personal information will need to be given to others as part of our investigating your complaint.

Information entered on this form will be put into our complaints management database and is protected under section 34 of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986.

Step 1: Contact Information

We need to collect some personal details from you in case we need to contact you to discuss your ideas further. These details will only be used for this purpose. If you are making a group submission please provide these details for one member of your group.

Are you making a complaint on behalf of someone else?

Are you making an anonymous complaint?

Step 2: Agency Information

Please select the Australian Government agency your complaint is about:

^ Important Note: If your complaint is about the actions of one of these agencies you may only proceed if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident or if you are acting on behalf of an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Are you and or are you acting for an Australian citizen or permanent resident?

Have you already contacted the agency?

Step 3: Complaint Details

Provide details of your complaint

  • Set your complaint out as briefly as possible. Stick to the main facts, and don’t go into excessive detail.
  • If detail is necessary, it might be useful to set it out in the format of a timeline.
  • Include information about each contact with the agency (if relevant) and what happened.
  • Details of who you spoke to, or who wrote to you
  • Any steps you have taken to sort out the problem
  • Keep any relevant documents, including all correspondence with the agency. We may ask you to provide us with copies later.

What action or result do you want?

You may wish to indicate what action you think should be taken to resolve your complaint.

Have you contacted us before?

If you contacted us before, please provide details such as agency, date and reference number. We would like to link this complaint with any previous contacts you have previously had with this office. All letters from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security include a reference number. Please include that number with your complaint.