Chapter 1 | Ombudsman's review

Introduction

The primary function of the Ombudsman's office is to handle complaints and enquiries from members of the public about government administrative action. The objective, captured in the office's outcome, is that 'administrative action by Australian Government agencies is fair and accountable'. We meet that objective by helping people to resolve complaints, by fostering improved public administration and by focusing on integrity and legislative compliance in agency administration.

The idea of an ombudsman–like office—someone to safeguard citizens in their dealings with government—has been seen in one form or another in a number of civilisations. The first modern ombudsman office was created in Sweden in 1809. By the 200 th anniversary, worldwide there were more than 140 statutory ombudsman offices at the national or sub–national level with oversight of public authorities.

In Australia, the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office has been in operation since 1977. Since then the office has dealt with hundreds of thousands of complaints about all areas of government.

Complaints

In 2008–09 we received 45,719 approaches and complaints, 14% more than last year. The number of approaches and complaints about agencies within the Ombudsman's jurisdiction (19,412) decreased slightly from 2007–08, when we had recorded a 9% increase from 2006–07. This year there was a 30% increase in the number of complaints about matters outside our jurisdiction and requests for information. This was the third consecutive year in which there was a substantial increase in these types of approaches.

During the year we dealt with approaches and complaints about more than 120 Australian Government agencies. We investigated 5,233 separate complaints, compared to 4,700 in 2007–08. Some agency error or deficiency was identified in 10% of the complaints investigated, compared to 8% last year. We also identified one or more remedies in 74% of the complaints investigated, almost the same as last year.

Our timeliness in closing all approaches and complaints, and investigated complaints, decreased from last year. However, there was a substantial reduction in the number of open complaints at the end of 2008–09, compared to the previous financial year.

Compliance auditing

The Ombudsman is responsible for inspecting the records of law enforcement and other agencies concerning their use of statutory powers that enable telecommunications interception, access to stored communications, use of surveillance devices and controlled operations. The agencies include the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), some state and territory law enforcement and integrity agencies, and some other enforcement agencies. The purpose of the inspections is to ensure statutory compliance and the adequacy and comprehensiveness of records. This contributes to the integrity of those enforcement activities.

During 2008–09 we carried out 30 inspections, compared to 19 in 2007–08. We inspected the records of 15 different agencies, compared to five in 2007–08. This included eight inspections of the AFP, six of the ACC, two of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, two of the New South Wales Police, and one inspection each of 11 other agencies. The increase in inspections was predominantly due to increased access to stored communications (for example, emails) by agencies.

Promoting good administration

In addition to dealing with individual complaints and inspecting records for statutory compliance, the Ombudsman's office promotes good administration through a variety of other methods.

We are conscious of the need to provide a broader range of information, in different formats, to assist agencies improve their public administration.

In 2008–09 we released 18 reports on own motion and major investigations. These covered areas as diverse as contracting, use of interpreters, grant administration, assessment of claims for disability support pension, dealing with allegations of customer fraud, and notification to people that mail is awaiting collection.

In April 2009 we released the Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling. The guide defines the essential principles for effective complaint handling. It can be used by agencies when developing a complaint–handling system or when evaluating or monitoring an existing system.

During the year we released three e–bulletins that describe recent case studies of finalised complaints from which lessons can be drawn that are considered to be of interest to a wider audience. We also produced seven fact sheets to assist agencies in various facets of public administration.

In addition we made 13 submissions to Parliamentary inquiries and six other submissions to major reviews.

Engagement

The Commonwealth Ombudsman and Chief Ombudsman of Papua New Guinea signing a new memorandum of agreement

We continued our efforts to make the broader community, and in particular key stakeholders, aware of the role of the Ombudsman's office and to hear about the issues that concern them in dealing with Australian Government agencies or other organisations delivering services on behalf of the Government. The number of our outreach activities increased by 28% on 2007–08, largely due to increased outreach in association with the Northern Territory Emergency Response.

Other examples of our broader outreach activities include conducting roundtable discussions with community groups and other special interest groups in all state capital cities, and participating in joint activities with state, territory and private sector Ombudsman offices.

Our level of engagement with Australian Government agencies has improved. In addition to our focus on producing a broader range of material to assist agencies improve administrative practices, we have strengthened our relationship with a number of agencies about which we usually receive few complaints. In 2007–08 we changed the allocation of responsibilities for dealing with complaints about those agencies, so that our state offices specialise in dealing with agencies within particular portfolios. This approach has proved beneficial. It enables us to better manage our relations with these agencies, provides a higher degree of consistency in the way we deal with complaints about these agencies, and gives a greater capacity to identify any systemic issues.

Our work with regional partners, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), passed three milestones during the year:

Internal management

During 2008–09 we further refined our work practices, drawing in part on the results of a client satisfaction survey conducted late in 2007–08 and on detailed analyses conducted by our business improvement team. Some of the main changes were:

A new collective agreement between the office and the Community and Public Sector Union came into effect in December 2008. The agreement focuses on people, remuneration and employment arrangements, working environment and lifestyle, further streamlining of personnel practices and processes, and performance management and improvement to underpin salary increases.

One objective of our human resource management is to extend the average time of tenure with the office. This will lead to the efficiencies that arise from lower staff turnover, increased corporate knowledge, and improved consistency and effectiveness of our core business activities.

In 2008–09 the office's operating revenue was $20.823 million and operating expenses were $19.894 million, resulting in a profit of $0.929 million. The office received an unqualified audit opinion on its 2008–09 financial statements.

Year ahead

Three major challenges face the office in 2009–10. The first is to deal efficiently with an expected increase in complaints and approaches to the office. Typically, many of the complaints that we receive within jurisdiction relate to new government programs. This can give rise to difficult or unexpected issues that require investigation.

Second, the office will continue the trend of recent years of placing more emphasis on the publication of reports and other guides to good administration. We expect to publish more than 20 reports in 2009–10 on significant cases or issues that have arisen in complaint investigation. Some of the investigations that are underway look at issues that are common to more than one agency, such as the payment of administrative compensation, and dealing with clients who exhibit mental illness. The publication of fact sheets and better practice guides to good administration will also receive added emphasis in 2009–10.

Third, the Ombudsman's office is in discussion with government about possible new functions that could be discharged by the office. These include options relating to whistleblower protection, oversight of government complaint handling in Norfolk Island, and monitoring the conduct of examinations conducted by the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate. There is also likely to be an expansion in the level of compliance auditing work of the office. The trend of recent years, that is likely to continue in 2009–10, is that the traditional complaint–handling role of the office will be supplemented by other functions to ensure effective independent external oversight of government administration.

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      Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2008-09 | Chapter 1 Ombudsman's Review

      Chapter 1 | Ombudsman's review

      Introduction

      The primary function of the Ombudsman's office is to handle complaints and enquiries from members of the public about government administrative action. The objective, captured in the office's outcome, is that 'administrative action by Australian Government agencies is fair and accountable'. We meet that objective by helping people to resolve complaints, by fostering improved public administration and by focusing on integrity and legislative compliance in agency administration.

      The idea of an ombudsman–like office—someone to safeguard citizens in their dealings with government—has been seen in one form or another in a number of civilisations. The first modern ombudsman office was created in Sweden in 1809. By the 200 th anniversary, worldwide there were more than 140 statutory ombudsman offices at the national or sub–national level with oversight of public authorities.

      In Australia, the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office has been in operation since 1977. Since then the office has dealt with hundreds of thousands of complaints about all areas of government.

      Complaints

      In 2008–09 we received 45,719 approaches and complaints, 14% more than last year. The number of approaches and complaints about agencies within the Ombudsman's jurisdiction (19,412) decreased slightly from 2007–08, when we had recorded a 9% increase from 2006–07. This year there was a 30% increase in the number of complaints about matters outside our jurisdiction and requests for information. This was the third consecutive year in which there was a substantial increase in these types of approaches.

      During the year we dealt with approaches and complaints about more than 120 Australian Government agencies. We investigated 5,233 separate complaints, compared to 4,700 in 2007–08. Some agency error or deficiency was identified in 10% of the complaints investigated, compared to 8% last year. We also identified one or more remedies in 74% of the complaints investigated, almost the same as last year.

      Our timeliness in closing all approaches and complaints, and investigated complaints, decreased from last year. However, there was a substantial reduction in the number of open complaints at the end of 2008–09, compared to the previous financial year.

      Compliance auditing

      The Ombudsman is responsible for inspecting the records of law enforcement and other agencies concerning their use of statutory powers that enable telecommunications interception, access to stored communications, use of surveillance devices and controlled operations. The agencies include the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), some state and territory law enforcement and integrity agencies, and some other enforcement agencies. The purpose of the inspections is to ensure statutory compliance and the adequacy and comprehensiveness of records. This contributes to the integrity of those enforcement activities.

      During 2008–09 we carried out 30 inspections, compared to 19 in 2007–08. We inspected the records of 15 different agencies, compared to five in 2007–08. This included eight inspections of the AFP, six of the ACC, two of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, two of the New South Wales Police, and one inspection each of 11 other agencies. The increase in inspections was predominantly due to increased access to stored communications (for example, emails) by agencies.

      Promoting good administration

      In addition to dealing with individual complaints and inspecting records for statutory compliance, the Ombudsman's office promotes good administration through a variety of other methods.

      We are conscious of the need to provide a broader range of information, in different formats, to assist agencies improve their public administration.

      In 2008–09 we released 18 reports on own motion and major investigations. These covered areas as diverse as contracting, use of interpreters, grant administration, assessment of claims for disability support pension, dealing with allegations of customer fraud, and notification to people that mail is awaiting collection.

      In April 2009 we released the Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling. The guide defines the essential principles for effective complaint handling. It can be used by agencies when developing a complaint–handling system or when evaluating or monitoring an existing system.

      During the year we released three e–bulletins that describe recent case studies of finalised complaints from which lessons can be drawn that are considered to be of interest to a wider audience. We also produced seven fact sheets to assist agencies in various facets of public administration.

      In addition we made 13 submissions to Parliamentary inquiries and six other submissions to major reviews.

      Engagement

      The Commonwealth Ombudsman and Chief Ombudsman of Papua New Guinea signing a new memorandum of agreement

      We continued our efforts to make the broader community, and in particular key stakeholders, aware of the role of the Ombudsman's office and to hear about the issues that concern them in dealing with Australian Government agencies or other organisations delivering services on behalf of the Government. The number of our outreach activities increased by 28% on 2007–08, largely due to increased outreach in association with the Northern Territory Emergency Response.

      Other examples of our broader outreach activities include conducting roundtable discussions with community groups and other special interest groups in all state capital cities, and participating in joint activities with state, territory and private sector Ombudsman offices.

      Our level of engagement with Australian Government agencies has improved. In addition to our focus on producing a broader range of material to assist agencies improve administrative practices, we have strengthened our relationship with a number of agencies about which we usually receive few complaints. In 2007–08 we changed the allocation of responsibilities for dealing with complaints about those agencies, so that our state offices specialise in dealing with agencies within particular portfolios. This approach has proved beneficial. It enables us to better manage our relations with these agencies, provides a higher degree of consistency in the way we deal with complaints about these agencies, and gives a greater capacity to identify any systemic issues.

      Our work with regional partners, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), passed three milestones during the year:

      • We entered into a new memorandum of agreement with the Ombudsman Commission of Papua New Guinea to run for a minimum of three years. This follows the first agreement, which started in 2005 and resulted in a number of important exchanges and collaborative activities between the Commission and this office.
      • The Indonesian Parliament passed legislation to create a new Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia, and we started working closely with our Indonesian partners during the transition phase as the new legislation is implemented.
      • In collaboration with our Pacific Islands Forum partners, we launched the Pacific Ombudsman Alliance. The Alliance works to strengthen regional cooperation and coordination between Pacific Island Ombudsmen and other Pacific Island nations that are working to establish ombudsman functions and like agencies.

      Internal management

      During 2008–09 we further refined our work practices, drawing in part on the results of a client satisfaction survey conducted late in 2007–08 and on detailed analyses conducted by our business improvement team. Some of the main changes were:

      • revision of our five-category complaint–handling structure and administrative deficiency workflow
      • introduction of a quality assurance audit panel to complement other quality assurance processes
      • development of a new approach to handling requests for reviews of our decisions
      • mapping of office workflows to assist in learning and development opportunities for staff and the evaluation of business practices.

      A new collective agreement between the office and the Community and Public Sector Union came into effect in December 2008. The agreement focuses on people, remuneration and employment arrangements, working environment and lifestyle, further streamlining of personnel practices and processes, and performance management and improvement to underpin salary increases.

      One objective of our human resource management is to extend the average time of tenure with the office. This will lead to the efficiencies that arise from lower staff turnover, increased corporate knowledge, and improved consistency and effectiveness of our core business activities.

      In 2008–09 the office's operating revenue was $20.823 million and operating expenses were $19.894 million, resulting in a profit of $0.929 million. The office received an unqualified audit opinion on its 2008–09 financial statements.

      Year ahead

      Three major challenges face the office in 2009–10. The first is to deal efficiently with an expected increase in complaints and approaches to the office. Typically, many of the complaints that we receive within jurisdiction relate to new government programs. This can give rise to difficult or unexpected issues that require investigation.

      Second, the office will continue the trend of recent years of placing more emphasis on the publication of reports and other guides to good administration. We expect to publish more than 20 reports in 2009–10 on significant cases or issues that have arisen in complaint investigation. Some of the investigations that are underway look at issues that are common to more than one agency, such as the payment of administrative compensation, and dealing with clients who exhibit mental illness. The publication of fact sheets and better practice guides to good administration will also receive added emphasis in 2009–10.

      Third, the Ombudsman's office is in discussion with government about possible new functions that could be discharged by the office. These include options relating to whistleblower protection, oversight of government complaint handling in Norfolk Island, and monitoring the conduct of examinations conducted by the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate. There is also likely to be an expansion in the level of compliance auditing work of the office. The trend of recent years, that is likely to continue in 2009–10, is that the traditional complaint–handling role of the office will be supplemented by other functions to ensure effective independent external oversight of government administration.