Policy reforms in Australia aim to give people with cognitive disability more choice and control over their paid support. However, little is understood about how they express dissatisfaction within these relationships. This study explores how people and their chosen support workers react when something wasn’t right.

The research finds that people complain in many different ways—through words, actions like leaving the room or yelling, or even through silence. Support workers often don’t recognise these behaviours as complaints. The study suggests that effective support requires treating the relationship as one of mutual recognition, where both people work together to identify and express the need for change. If workers and organisations broaden their understanding of what “complaining” looks like, they are more likely to notice and respond appropriately.

Further research with people and their workers to better understand the interpersonal and institutional conditions that affect whether and how they complain is needed - particularly to better understand what helps and what makes it harder for people to complain and for workers to notice and respond when people complain.