Features | Public and private sector Ombudsmen | Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2007-08

Public and private sector ombudsmen in Australia deal with complaints about federal and state governments, and administration and services provided by industries such as banking, energy and water, and telecommunications.

‘At first glance, it appears the role of a private sector ombudsman might diverge significantly from the role of a government ombudsman,’ said Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman, Mr Colin Neave. Due to changes in the legislative framework this is no longer necessarily the case.Under Corporations Act provisions, licensed financial services providers must belong to an external dispute resolution scheme approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Mr Neave stated that the development and publication of benchmarks for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in 1997 drew the roles of private and public sector ombudsmen much closer. The benchmarks contain five key principles: accessibility, independence, fairness, accountability, and efficiency. These benchmarks are relevant to both public and private sector ombudsmen, illustrating how little divergence there now is between the two sectors.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, Ms Deirdre O’Donnell (pictured), said that some people see industry ombudsmen as having more ‘teeth’ than government ombudsmen because they have the power to make binding determinations. She pointed out that this is balanced by statutory ombudsmen having Royal Commission-like powers of investigation.

One distinguishing feature of industry ombudsman schemes is that members of the schemes agree to be bound by the Ombudsman’s determination, whereas a disputant is not: they may reject the decision and take the matter to a court or tribunal.

Both public and private sector ombudsman schemes exist to promote confidence in the sector or industry to which they belong. The ombudsman’s independence is essential so the office can speak with authority and credibility as well as achieve changes in industry or sector behaviour, and redress of grievance either on a system-wide or individual basis.