Part 6 - Appendices

Appendix 1—Financial Statements

Download the Financial Statements

Appendix 2— Statistics

Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman—Approaches and Complaints 2015–2016

Jurisdiction/Portfolio/Agency	Received	Finalised					Total Finalised	Remedies									Total Remedies
		Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5		Action expedited	Apology	Decision changed or reconsidered	Disciplinary action	Explanation	Financial remedy	Law, policy or practice changed	Other non-financial remedy	Remedy provided by agency without Ombudsman Intervention
ACT GOVERNMENT	568	212	283	64	27		586	12	5	22		75	6	4	5	4	133
Commonwealth	21410	8512	11002	1401	417	9	21341	255	185	321	70	1335	383	57	151	52	2809
Agriculture and Water Resources	52	13	32	4	2		51					6	1				7
Attorney-General's	515	201	272	33	22	1	529	6	2	8	0	30	0	3	1	0	50
Commonwealth Parliament	6	1	5				6										0
Communications and the Arts	5188	1382	3655	144	29		5210	17	57	56	21	142	83	3	27	8	414
Courts	90	41	43	6			90					4	1		1		6
Defence	491	126	249	86	27	2	490	20	7	27	1	59	9	1	5	5	134
Education and Training	100	26	45	17	6		94		1	1		16			2		20
Employment	653	296	270	57	13		636	9	4	11	2	75	7	2	4	3	117
Environment	26	10	15	1	1		27					2					2
Finance	91	23	62	7	2		94	2	1	1		1	1				6
Foreign Affairs and Trade	187	62	112	10	2		186	1				12	2	1	2		18
Health	93	33	48	6			87			1		3					4
Immigration and Border Protection	2341	702	1105	394	101	1	2303	85	7	41	6	332	17	14	56	18	576
Industry, Innovation and Science	67	14	41	5	3	1	64	1	2			2	4	1	1		11
Infrastructure and Regional Development	75	20	42	5	4		71		1	3		7			1		12
Prime Minister and Cabinet	57	9	27	16	7		59	2	1	3	1	15	1	2	1		26
Social Services	10888	5378	4687	586	190	4	10845	112	99	162	39	608	253	28	47	17	1365
Treasury	490	175	292	24	8		499		3	7		19	4	2	3	1	39
Norfolk Island	7	1	4	1	1		7					3					3
Commonwealth Ombudsman General	1237	573	668	1			1242		1						1		2
Out of Jurisdiction	5325	4446	893				5339										0
Overseas Students Ombudsman	874	55	520	201	90		866	18	3	108		226	32	18	11	19	435
Private Health Insurance Ombudsman	8322	4404	3077	872	47		8400
Postal Industry Ombudsman	10	1	8				9										0
TOTAL	37753	18204	16455	2540	582	9	37790	285	194	451	70	1639	421	79	168	75	3382

Private Health Insurance Ombudsman (PHIO) complaint figures reflect private health insurance complaint types; these figures may differ slightly from the complaint categories reported for PHIO from page 55

Appendix 3—Information Publication Scheme

The Information Publication Scheme (IPS) applies to Australian Government agencies that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This scheme requires an agency to publish a broad range of information on their website.

The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman's website makes available the Ombudsman's Information Publication Scheme plan, describing how the office complies with these requirements and giving access to information published under the scheme.

More information can be found at: ombudsman.gov.au/about/information-publication-scheme

Appendix 4—Entity Resource Statement

Entity Resource Statement 2015–16

Ordinary Annual Services1	Actual available appropriation for 2015-16 $'000 (a)	Payments made 2015-16 $'000 (b)	Balance 2015-16 $'000 (a) – (b)
Departmental appropriation2	35,111	25,439	9,672
Adjustment—actual s743	335	335	–
Adjustment—s51 determination4	(10)		(10)
Adjustment Departmental Appropriation5	(77)		(77)
Total resourcing and payments	35,359	25,775	9,585

1. Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2015–16 and Appropriation Act (No. 3) 2015–16. This also includes prior year departmental appropriation and S74 relevant agency receipts.
2. Includes an available amount of $1.181m in 2015–16 for the Departmental Capital Budget. For accounting purposes this amount has been designated as 'contribution by owners'.
3. Actual s74 receipts in 2015–16 were $2.607m compared to the Budget estimate of $2.272m.
4. $0.010m was quarantined for Superannuation fees but not yet removed from the appropriation.
5. Adjustment to departmental appropriation for the inclusion of the PHIO restructure.

Resources Summary Table – Expenses for Outcome 1

Outcome 1: Fair and accountable administrative action by Australian Government entities and prescribed private sector organisations, by investigating complaints, reviewing administrative action and statutory compliance inspections and reporting.

Program 1.1: Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman	Budget 2015–16 $'000	Actual 2015–16 $'000	Variance 2015–16 $'000
Departmental expenses
Departmental appropriation1	23,212	23,471	(259)
Expenses not requiring appropriation in the Budget year	833	894	(61)
Total for Program 1.1	24,045	24,365	(320)
Total for Outcome 1	24,045	24,365	(320)
Average Staffing Level (number)	149	152	(3)

1 Departmental Appropriation combines 'Ordinary annual services' (Appropriation Act No. 1 and Appropriation Act No. 3) and 'Revenue from independent sources (S74)'.

Appendix 5—Ecologically Sustainable Development and Environmental performance

Section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 sets out the principles and framework for the office to report on environmental matters. The office also have an environmental-management policy to help the office manage activities in an environmentally sustainable manner. Our environmental impact is mainly through office-based energy consumption, paper resources and waste management.

Energy consumption

During the year the office maintained its energy consumption and this is due primarily to the office obtaining a new premise in Sydney. If the second premise is excluded and calculations are based on the same data as the previous year then the result would have been a reduction of one per cent. This was for both total megajoules consumed and megajoules consumed per person.

Paper resources

The office manages electronic database and information management systems to reduce paper records and photocopier usage.

During the year we implemented the Information and Records Management (IRM) work program to better facilitate business needs, compliance with legislation and the Government Digital Transition Policy.

One of the project areas of the program involves further steps to ensure we engage in predominantly digital record keeping and e-business practices to reduce paper files. Our paper supplies are either manufactured from at least 50 per cent recycled products or carbon neutral. Other office materials such as files, folders and unused stationery are recycled within the office to reduce procurement activity for stationery.

Waste management

We actively manage the waste we produce through several mechanisms:

• recycling bins are provided in all offices to encourage recycling of waste such as paper and cardboard packaging
• toner cartridges are recycled
• kitchen waste such as plastic bottles and cans are recycled via special bins provided in breakout areas.