Commonwealth Ombudsman releases 30th annual report

Few public institutions survive three decades with their core functions virtually unchanged. The Commonwealth Ombudsman reached that milestone this year.

Commonwealth Ombudsman Prof. John McMillan reflects on the 30-year history of the office in his 2006–07 annual report.

‘Over the past 30 years my office has dealt with over 600,000 complaints and has stimulated many improvements in government administration’, Prof. McMillan said.

‘The office has dealt with nearly every kind of complaint made against government. We continue to work with agencies to address and prevent systemic problems and to improve public administration.’

Last year the Commonwealth Ombudsman handled complaints made about more than 100 Australian Government departments and agencies. Around three quarters of those complaints focused on five agencies with high volume public contact—Australia Post, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Centrelink, the Child Support Agency, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

Highlights for 2006–07 include:

  • handling 33,322 approaches and complaints received—an increase of 18% on the previous year
  • finalising 17,934 approaches and complaints within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, and handling 15,319 approaches related to out-of-jurisdiction matters and requests for information
  • finalising the 247 immigration detention cases referred to the Ombudsman by the Government following the cases of Ms Cornelia Rau and Ms Vivian Alvarez
  • completing 13 own motion and major investigation reports relating to the ATO, the Australian Film Commission, the Australian Defence Force, DIAC, the Migration Agents Registration Authority, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), and complaint handling in Australian airports
  • consolidating the Immigration Ombudsman function and implementing the Law Enforcement Ombudsman and Postal Industry Ombudsman functions conferred on the office
  • conducting 116 outreach activities throughout Australia
  • reviewing the circumstances of people who have been in immigration detention for two years or more and providing the Minister for Immigration with 141 reports
  • inspecting the records of the AFP, the Australian Crime Commission and some other agencies for statutory compliance relating to telecommunication interceptions, use of surveillance devices and controlled (covert) operations
  • focusing on activities to broaden the social impact of high quality complaint investigation services in Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and selected Pacific Island Nations.

As an important independent arbiter in a system of government undergoing constant change, the responsibilities of the Commonwealth Ombudsman have expanded over 30 years to cover areas of specific expertise such as defence, immigration, law enforcement, taxation and the postal industry.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman was established with cross-party political support during a time of innovation in Australia’s federal justice system. Australia’s first Ombudsman, Prof. Jack Richardson, opened the Canberra office on 1 July 1977. Following Prof. Richardson there have been six Ombudsmen—Geoffrey Kolts, Prof. Dennis Pearce, Alan Cameron, Philippa Smith, Ron McLeod and currently Prof. McMillan.

Prof. McMillan said: ‘It is a privilege to be Ombudsman during the 30th Anniversary of the office. Much has been achieved over the past 30 years, but a lot still needs to be done to ensure the fundamental right of all Australians to good public administration.’

The report is available at www.ombudsman.gov.au.

Date of release: 26 October 2007