Request an investigation
If you see or suspect abuse or neglect of an adult with impaired decision-making ability, you can ask us to investigate.
If you’d like to request an investigation, please read what to do before requesting an investigation first.
If the person you’re concerned about is eligible and there’s no other way to resolve your concern, you can request an investigation.
In an emergency, call 000
If the person you’re concerned about has been physically harmed or is at imminent risk of physical harm, contact the police or ambulance on 000.
What information do you need to include in your request?
The investigation request form will ask you for the following information:
- your details (the 'discloser')
- details of the adult you're concerned about (the 'adult')
- adult's decision-making ability
- adult's current and past medical practitioner/s
- details of the person/s whose conduct is being complained about (the 'respondent/s') and their relationship to the adult
- details of the concerns regarding the adult's finances, health and wellbeing (i.e. the nature and extent of the alleged abuse or neglect)
- details of any domestic violence orders relating to any of the parties named in your request
- support services being provided to the adult (e.g. My Aged Care, NDIS)
- further contacts for the investigation (e.g. family members or close friends involved in the adult’s life)
- any pending Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT)
- relevant documents in your possession (which we may request later).
If you can’t give us all this information, don’t worry — you can still make a request. However, the more information you can give us, the better.
Do I need to provide proof ?
You don’t need to give us clear proof, however we need enough information and particulars to form a reasonable suspicion that:
- the alleged victim has impaired decision-making ability
- abuse or neglect has occurred.
What is the process for requesting an investigation?
1. You send us a written request
To make a written request:
- Download the investigation request form .
- Fill in as much of the form as you can.
- Print the completed form.
- Sign the form.
- Scan the form.
- Email the scanned form to investigations@publicguardian.qld.gov.au
If you don’t have a smartphone or scanner, you can fax (07 3738 9496) or post (PO Box 13554, George Street, QLD 4003) the form to us.
If you need help to complete the form and there’s no one else available to lend a hand, you can call us for assistance on 1300 653 187.
2. We talk with you and others
We’ll talk with you to understand the situation better and gather any extra information we need.
3. We assess your request
We’ll review the information in your request to check if there’s:
- enough evidence to show the adult has impaired decision-making ability, and abuse or neglect has happened
- a simpler or less intrusive way to solve the issue without us investigating.
4. We accept or decline your request
After our assessment, we’ll either accept or decline your request.
This process takes usually 2–3 weeks, depending on the amount and quality of the information provided or readily available to us.
What happens if your request is accepted?
If we accept your request, we have a process to follow . We’ll assign one of our investigations officers to the case.
What happens if we decline your request?
We focus our investigative resources on cases where there’s a significant risk of severe, ongoing harm to the person being abused or neglected.
If we decline your request, we’ll tell you why and may refer you to other organisations who can help .