The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline
The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline (The Hotline), is a free, independent and confidential service for reporting abuse and neglect of people with disability.
The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline is free, independent and confidential.
If you have experienced or witnessed someone with disability being hurt,
treated badly, or neglected, you can report it.
Abuse and neglect comes in many forms.
This can be physical, mental, financial, sexual, or involve a failure of care.
The Hotline can work with you to find ways to deal with your report of abuse and neglect,
through referrals, information and support.
Anyone can contact the Hotline, whether you are a person with disability,
a family member, a friend, or a service provider.
The Hotline is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm.
The Hotline is here to help keep people with disability safe.
To make a report, call the Hotline on 1800 880 052 or visit the website for more information.
Anyone can contact the Hotline, including family members, friends, service providers or a person with disability.
The Hotline works with callers to find appropriate ways of dealing with reports of abuse and neglect of people with disability.
The Hotline will encourage the notifier to seek advocacy support if needed.
To make a report, contact the Hotline on 1800 880 052 or send an email to: hotline@glresolution.au.
The Hotline is not a crisis service. In case of life threatening situations call 000 for attendance by Ambulance, Fire or Police services. If you think a crime has been committed or is being committed, contact your local police.
Emergency contact services
What is abuse and neglect
Vision Statement of the Hotline
The Hotline is operated by our contracted service provider GL Resolution who will collect, use and disclose your personal information on behalf of the Department of Social Services. For more information about the handling of your personal information please refer to the privacy collection notice below
Privacy collection notice
The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline (Hotline) is is operated on behalf of the Department of Social Services (department) by our contracted service provider, GL Resolution (our contracted service provider), (collectively referred to as the Hotline, we or us) and works with callers to find appropriate ways of dealing with reports of abuse and neglect of people with disability.
The Hotline will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, the Department’s Privacy Policy | Department of Social Services and our contracted service providers’ Privacy Policy and Disclosure - GL Resolution.
What we collect
‘Personal information’ is any information or opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information.
Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes information or opinion about a person’s:
- racial or ethnic origin
- political opinions
- membership of a political association
- religious beliefs or affiliations
- philosophical beliefs
- membership of a professional or trade association
- membership of a trade union
- sexual orientation or practices
- criminal record
- health information including information about a disability
- genetic information that is not otherwise health information
- biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification
We collect your personal information or information about the person who is the subject of abuse or neglect including name, contact details, demographic information, details of services that have been received and facts about the abuse or neglect, service providers you or the person have connections with and details of any other party who may be causing the neglect or abuse. We may also collect your or the individual’s sensitive information such as information about ethnicity, health and disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or affiliation, memberships of a trade union or a professional or trade association.
We may need to collect further information from you about you or another person, in order to assist refer the abuse or neglect to agencies or organisations that may assist investigate the abuse or neglect. If you do not provide this additional information, it may prevent us from assisting you or the person who is experiencing the abuse or neglect.
How we may collect your information
Usually, we will collect information directly from you. At times, we may collect information from others such as friends, family members, and service providers where you have consented to them providing the information to us or where they are otherwise authorized or required to share the information with us. We may also collect information about you or the person who is experiencing the abuse or neglect from others if they have information relevant to the abuse or neglect.
Using and disclosing your personal information
The information you provide to the Hotline during the course of your matter will be used to listen to your situation and provide you with a referral to an appropriate service. If you do not provide us with relevant information, we may not be able to assist you.
We may use and disclose your personal information, and the personal information of any other person that you provide, to contact you, and to contact any person whose details you provide or to refer your matter to the appropriate agency or organisation with authority to consider your report. This may sometime include disclosing details of your matter directly to the services or service provider. We will usually inform you of the name of the agency or organisation before we disclose the information to them.
We may provide your information to the department for the use of monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of our service investigating fraud or suspected misconduct, policy development and business planning for the hotline.
You should also be aware that we may share your personal information if it is necessary to do this, to lessen or prevent a serious risk to the life, health of safety of any person, or to public health or safety as mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect, we are required to report such abuse to the relevant law enforcement agency.
More information
You can find more information about how we handle personal information by reading the department’s Privacy Policy. This includes information about how we store your information, how to contact us to access or correct information about you, and your rights to make a complaint about how we handle your personal information.
Help using the service
The Hotline staff who answer calls understand disability, are sensitive to the needs of people with disability and are aware of issues in the disability sector. In some instances, they will be able to provide immediate advice to callers.
Advocacy services can also be arranged for callers with disability who need help to report an allegation.
When you call the hotline you will be asked for permission to report:
- Your name, address and age
- Some information about the service or situation where the abuse or neglect is happening, or has happened
- The name of the person or persons responsible for the abuse or neglect
- The name, age and address of the person being abused or neglected.
You will also need to give permission for the Hotline to pass information on to other organisations who can investigate your report.
Please note, the Hotline does not record phone calls, however they do take notes to ensure accuracy.
Making a report
The Hotline is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) and Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDST), excluding Australian national public holidays.
To make a report:
- Call 1800 880 052 (toll free) and speak with an experienced Hotline staff member
- Callers who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment can contact the National Relay Service (NRS) by calling 133 677 then asking for 1800 880 052
- Callers from a non-English speaking background can use the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) by calling 13 14 50
- Send an email to: hotline@glresolution.au
What happens after a report is made?
Abuse and neglect of people with disability is not acceptable in our community. The Hotline works with callers to find appropriate ways of dealing with reports of abuse or neglect through referral, information and support.
The Hotline will remain impartial – and does not take sides and does not advocate on anyone’s behalf.
If a caller reports abuse or neglect in a government-funded service, the Hotline will refer the report to the government body that funds the service. The funding body will investigate the report.
Types of government-funded services used by people with disability include open or supported employment, accommodation, community services, and respite care services.
If a caller reports abuse or neglect in any other situation, the Hotline will refer the report to an agency able to investigate or address the report e.g. an ombudsman or complaints-handling body.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
The Hotline cannot assist with NDIS complaints. However, if you require assistance lodging a complaint with the NDIS, you can contact the Hotline and they can assist with a referral.
The Hotline assists with referrals to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission for NDIS complaints.
The Hotline also assists with referrals to the NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner for domestic complaints within New South Wales (NSW), and referrals to the SA Adult Safeguarding Unit for domestic complaints within South Australia.
Complaints about the Hotline
Contact Department of Social Services (DSS) Complaints – 1800 634 035 if you want to complain about the service you have received from the National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline.
Fact Sheets
- National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline - Fact Sheet
- Poster - National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline (The Hotline)
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