The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s roles under OPCAT
Coordinating the Australian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)
In July 2018, the Australian Government announced it had nominated the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Office) as the NPM Coordinator.
In this role, the Office is tasked with coordinating the multi-body Australian NPM, comprising the Commonwealth, state and territory oversight bodies nominated by their governments as NPMs.
The functions of the NPM Coordinator include, but are not limited to:
- facilitating regular meetings, collaboration and information sharing among the members of the Australian NPM
- supporting training and development within the Australian NPM
- reporting to the public and to governments on Australian NPM activities and OPCAT implementation in Australia.
You can find publications and reports made by the Australian NPM below under the “Australian NPM – OPCAT publications and reports” page.
Monitoring places of detention under the control of the Commonwealth
In July 2018, the Australian Government also announced the Office as the NPM for places of detention under the control of the Commonwealth (the Commonwealth NPM).
This includes, but is not limited to:
- places of immigration detention
- places of detention under the control of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Defence Force
- aged care and disability facilities under control of the Commonwealth.
In this role, the Commonwealth NPM monitors the treatment of people and the conditions of their detention and makes recommendations for improvement.
The Commonwealth NPM has free access to detention facilities and can choose which places to visit and when, and the people they want to interview.
You can find publications and reports made by us on the “Commonwealth NPM - OPCAT publications and reports' page.
Our role under OPCAT focuses on systemic issues to reduce the risk of ill-treatment in detention.
We do not respond to individual complaints.
If you are looking to complain about a government agency, please go to the 'Complaints' page for the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
If you would like to provide us with information relating to our role under OPCAT, you can do so, by going to our online form and selecting 'Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT)' from the dropdown menu.
Monitoring places of detention under the control of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
The Commonwealth Ombudsman is also the Ombudsman for the ACT.
The ACT Ombudsman is part of the multi-body NPM for places of detention under the jurisdiction or control of the ACT, alongside the ACT Inspector of Custodial Services and the ACT Human Rights Commission.
The ACT NPM’s functions and powers are set out in the Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) Act 2018 (ACT).
Under this legislation, the ACT NPM is empowered to visit and independently monitor places of detention, with a view to strengthening protections against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Additionally, the ACT NPM can make recommendations and observations to Government, and comment on existing or draft legislation.