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Complaints and feedback about the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB)

How do I provide feedback or complaints about the TPB?

If you are not satisfied with the Board’s actions in handling complaints against agents or if you are dissatisfied with the Board’s decisions, service or actions, you have a number of options.

If you are concerned about how we have handled a complaint, or the Board's decisions, services or actions, you can give us feedback or make a complaint.

If you are concerned about a decision that the Board has made, you can ask us for our reasons for making the decision (if we have not already given them to you).

We recommend that:

  1. You discuss your concerns, as a first step, with the TPB staff member with whom you have been dealing.
  2. If you are not satisfied with the result, or if you find it difficult to raise your concerns directly with our staff member, you can ask to speak with their Manager or write to the Secretary of the Board at the following address:

The Secretary (Complaints)
Tax Practitioners Board
PO Box 9825
PENRITH NSW 2740

How do we manage complaints and feedback?

The Board is committed to treating your feedback and complaints seriously, impartially and in confidence. We are keen to listen to you to help improve our services and processes. If you come to us with any concerns or complaints, we will aim to resolve them as quickly as possible.

When we deal with complaints about staff members we take an objective, impartial and balanced approach. We follow the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness for all parties.

We analyse the issues that led to the complaint so we can identify and address weaknesses in our policies, systems, work practices, skills and quality controls.

What if I am still not satisfied?

If you have tried to resolve your concern using the steps above and are not satisfied with the way we have handled your complaint, you may be able to seek assistance from:

Commonwealth Ombudsman

You can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Office by:

  1. visiting their website at www.comb.gov.au
  2. phoning their National Complaints Line on 1300 362 072
  3. visiting their nearest office (located in all capital cities), or
  4. writing to

Commonwealth Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Commonwealth Privacy Commissioner

If you are concerned about the Board’s handling of your personal information, you can make a complaint to the Commonwealth Privacy Commissioner by

  1. visiting their website at www.oaic.gov.au
  2. phoning their enquiry line on 1300 363 992, or
  3. writing to GPO Box 2999 Canberra ACT 2601 or GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001

Administrative Appeals Tribunal 

You may also be able to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). There is a list of the decisions that can be appealed in section 70-10 of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and part 5 of the Tax Agent Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009.

If you remain dissatisfied with a Board decision following an AAT appeal you may have further appeal rights to a court.