EXPERIENCE RATINGS

Ratings from people who were actually there.

We ask people who were admitted to a service after an enquiry or referral through RehabFinder to rate their experience. There is no open review form, because anything anyone could post about anyone is worth very little to the next person choosing.

How it works

When you enquire through RehabFinder you can agree to a short survey later. If you are admitted, the service tells us only that, and when you arrived and left, so we know when to ask. Then we email you one link.

Every service in the directory is treated the same: public or private, claimed or not, paying RehabFinder or not. Who is asked, and what is published, never depends on whether a service pays RehabFinder, or on what a person is likely to say. A cancelled or unpaid subscription changes nothing about the survey.

Your privacy. The email does not name the service or mention treatment. Nothing that identifies you is ever published, and the service is not told who answered. You can opt out of every survey with the link in any survey email, or by writing to admin@rehabfinder.com.au.

Family members and carers. If you enquired for someone else, we ask about your own experience, and it is shown as a family or carer response. We never treat you as the person admitted, and we do not contact them through you.

Referring professionals do not rate services in the experience survey. A professional view of a service is published as a named endorsement, through the referrer workspace, where your registration is checked first.

If you are in distress right now, please call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015 — free, confidential, 24 hours. Or read what comes after a stay.

What we ask

Up to eight ratings from 1 to 5, each of which can be skipped or marked as not applying. Nothing about treatment results, and no space for written comments.

Admission process
Communication
Respect from staff
Facilities
Cleanliness
Food
Discharge arrangements
Value for money

Who is asked

The person who stayed. Asked only after the service recorded their admission with RehabFinder, and only if they agreed to be asked when they enquired (or, for a referral, if their referrer recorded their agreement).
The family member or carer who enquired. Asked about their own experience as family or carer - never as though they were the person admitted - and only if they agreed when they enquired.

What is published

The survey is ratings only. There is nowhere to write comments, so nothing anyone says is edited.
A response is published only if the person agreed to publication when they answered.
A response is held only for a recorded reason: no permission to publish, a duplicate, an admission that was not confirmed, or the wrong service.
A response is never held for being negative, and a provider cannot have one removed for being unflattering. A provider may dispute a fact, such as whether the admission happened.
A service’s profile shows an average for each question, how many answered it, and the months the answers span - only once enough responses to the same survey version have been published, so no one answer can be picked out.