There were 88 complaints were received about ACT facilities during the 2017-18 financial year, up from 71 in 2016-17, according to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner.

ACT complaints about nursing homes and aged-care facilities made up less than 2 per cent of all complaints made nationally during the past financial year.

More than 5700 individual complaints were made in 2017-18; 4315 of those were about residential care, 1014 about home-care packages, 406 about the Commonwealth Home Support Program and 44 about flexible care.

Of the complaints made nationally, 56 per cent came from family members or representatives of people receiving care, while 19 per cent were from aged-care residents themselves.

The remaining complaints came from anonymous sources and referrals from other agencies.

The complaints data comes as the federal government recently announced a royal commission into the aged-care sector. A terms of reference for the commission is yet to be announced.

A spokesman for the commissioner said a wide range of complaints were received.

"The most common issues raised in complaints about residential aged care were about medication administration and management, personal and oral hygiene and personnel numbers," the spokesman said.

"In home care, the most common issues complained about were fees and charges, lack of consultation and communication and communication about fees and charges."

No specific data was available about the most common complaints made in the ACT.

NSW lodged the most complaints in 2017-18 with 1831, followed by Victoria on 1581 and Queensland on 1310.

While the commissioner handles complaints made about the sector, it does not have powers to prosecute aged-care providers. This falls to the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency.

An audit was carried out last financial year at the Queanbeyan Residential Care Facility and it was found to have failed four of the 44 accreditation standards. The facility was found in June to be non-compliant with medication management, skin care, behavioural management and regulatory compliance.

The agency also conducted one review audit in Canberra in 2017-18, and made one finding of serious risk at the Adria Village nursing home in Stirling.

The audit found a number of pharmacy-related errors and that management was "not able to demonstrate care recipients' medication is managed safely and correctly".

The nursing home received sanctions including a three-month freeze on Commonwealth subsidies for new residents and the revocation of approved-provider status unless training was provided for six months.

The agency's chief executive, Nick Ryan, said more than 4000 audits of aged-care facilities took place each year and 50,000 interviews of residents and their families were conducted.

"In most cases, homes that are found to be non-compliant in a particular expected outcome, act very quickly to remedy the issues," Mr Ryan said.

"The quality agency triages and acts in complaints referred by the commissioner based on the level of possible non-compliance and risk to consumers."

Council on the Aging ACT chief executive Jenny Mobbs said the rise in complaints made to the commissioner was concerning.

"I'm concerned when there's one complaint about aged-care issues, but people are now more aware than before of how to make complaints," Ms Mobbs said.

"It's very common for relatives to make complaints about their family members in aged care. They'll go and see their mum or dad and they'll find they haven't been fed or there's unexplained bruises or they're not clean and haven't showered."

Earlier this week, Council on the Aging's national body called for several changes that would need to occur in the aged-care sector ahead of the royal commission.

Among them were funding for 30,000 home care packages and compulsory reporting for aged care staffing levels, pricing and quality performances by mid-2019.

Carol Benda from Legal Aid ACT, which runs the Older Persons ACT Legal Service, anticipated more complaints about aged-care facilities in coming months.

The service has been running since July, and Ms Benda said issues surrounding the rights of older people living in aged care would be a priority.

"The kind of people that are coming to us so far are living in their own home, but it's surprising to see how many older people who are out there with no one to help them," Ms Benda said.

"The important thing is about getting to these people. What we're hoping to do is to do talks and sessions to people living in retirement villages and nursing homes."