Foreword

This reporting period has been one of change for the Ombudsman’s Office. There have been changes in Senior Management roles, a restructure within the office, and a reduction in the number of approaches (that is, complaints, enquiries and other forms of contact with our office).

We have also reconsidered the way we achieve our objectives, consolidating a new direction in the way we work with government agencies. In addition, the passage of legislation has created an important new role for the office in Public Interest Disclosures within the public sector.

I have now been in the role of Commonwealth Ombudsman for a little over a year, starting in September 2012. The management team has seen departures and arrivals in that time, with a new team now settling into permanent roles. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the team and the roles being performed under our renewed management and governance frameworks.

The restructure that was implemented during 2012–13 brought together all teams that assessed and investigated complaints into a single Operations Branch. This allows us to more consistently monitor and more easily identify similar types of complaints across different government agencies and to implement strategies for improving the way we investigate and manage them. We are also building our capacity to more flexibly prioritise and allocate complaints to improve our timeliness, as outlined in Chapter 2 and Chapter 4.

In 2012–13 we received 26,474 approaches. This contrasts with 40,092 approaches received in the previous reporting period in 2011–12. Of the approaches received in 2012–13, 18,097 were about agencies within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, compared to 22,991 the previous year. This represents a 34% reduction in complaints that the office could investigate. There was a 51% decrease in the number of approaches about matters outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and requests for information.

The decrease in ‘within jurisdiction’ complaints to the office correlates with our efforts over several years to encourage client agencies to improve and promote internal complaint handling processes to resolve complaints before these are referred to our office.

In addition, we have redesigned our telephone queue system and auto-attendant messaging to provide members of the public with information about the kinds of matters it is within our jurisdiction to investigate, and preliminary steps that should be taken before proceeding to make a complaint to our office. It has allowed our Public Contact Team to focus on callers with matters that are clearly within our jurisdiction and more likely to warrant further assessment. This outcome is supported by the number of category 2 complaints (in–jurisdiction complaints that require further assessment) remaining stable between 2011–12 and 2012–13 periods despite the decrease in total approaches to the office. We will closely monitor approach levels over the coming period and review the telephone queue system and auto-attendant messaging as needed.

The office is also settling into a relationship with government agencies that has gradually been taking shape over a number of years that places greater emphasis on improving administration through engagement. Essentially, we are seeking to work more collaboratively with agencies, building relationships based on trust and a ‘no surprises’ approach for both agencies and complainants. There are many drivers for this, but I see this approach as the best way we can achieve our purpose, which is to influence agencies to treat people fairly through our investigations of their administration.

We have also moved from being an office solely concerned with individual grievances to one that has—particularly over the last 10 years—focused more attention on working with agencies to equip them to deal with the immediate complaint, and to create systems that enable them to learn from the experience.

Paying greater attention to systemic issues can be seen in various aspects of the work we do. For example, we now spend more time analysing complaint trends to identify emerging and systemic issues, and helping agencies to develop prevention strategies at an early stage. In response, agencies have started to approach us seeking our assistance in advance of problems showing up and also briefing us where they see a potential problem developing. This enables us to refer people who contact us with that problem back to the place within the agency to solve it without extensive involvement on our part. This is a better result for the complainant, the agency and our office. We also try, wherever possible, to highlight lessons learned from individual cases through the use of better practice guides, case studies and recommendations that can be applied in different settings—including for ourselves.

For this proactive approach to work well, our office and agencies need to work collaboratively. In my view, this creates the best environment to have the robust conversations that at times are needed to progress a matter. One of my key objectives is to nurture such relationships, as this not only achieves better outcomes but is also more efficient in a resource-constrained environment than a traditional positional approach, particularly given the increasing complexity of public administration.

A good test of this approach will be the Public Interest Disclosure Scheme which seeks to create a usable and effective framework for managing internal disclosures from within the public sector. The Public Interest Disclosure Bill was passed in the Senate on 26 June this year, and the scheme will come into effect from mid-January 2014. I look forward to reporting on its implementation in the next annual report.

Last year, we reported that the Ombudsman Act 2012 (Norfolk Island) was enacted on 25 August 2012. While the office has prepared in anticipation of the role, to date the appointment has not been finalised. The small number of complaints that have been made to our office will be assessed when that process is complete.

In conclusion, I believe we need to adapt in order to achieve our objective of fostering good public administration in a more complex, interconnected world. Our preferred approach is one that requires not just the exercise of powers in a rigid pre-determined way but that encourages a flexible approach which, in turn, promotes collaboration and cooperation while adhering to the principles of transparency and accountability. Our transition to an agency that is interested in the individual issue and its broader systemic cause is essential if we are to remain relevant to a public that has an increasing number of other forums in which to air its concerns and grievances.

Colin Neave
Commonwealth Ombudsman