CHAPTER 9 | challenges in complaint handling

Strategic planning

Many of the projects described in this chapter stemmed from a strategic planning exercise undertaken by the office in mid-2003. A motivation for undertaking strategic planning was the recognition that the office will remain effective only if it is strategic.

The size and resources of the Ombudsman's office are small by comparison with the scale of government operations that the office oversights. Many of the areas of public administration about which complaints are regularly received—such as taxation, immigration, and social services—are highly complex and require specialist understanding. The pace of change in government programs is rapid. While these factors pose an extra challenge for an ombudsman's office, they likewise make the office more relevant, rather than less.

To maintain relevance and effectiveness in a strategic manner, the office devised a strategic action agenda for 2003–04, defining the enduring commitments, pressing issues and longer term projects for the office. Examples of the enduring commitments of the office are to maintain an effective national office structure, contribute to public discussion on administrative law and public administration, and nurture our working relationship with Australian Government agencies. The pressing issues—most of which are underway or being finalised—include restructuring the electronic complaints management database, developing an outreach program, revising the investigation guidelines in the office, reviewing each of the major teams in the office, and revamping the office's website to include a research hub about the Ombudsman. Most of the longer term projects have also been initiated—such as a review of the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Ombudsman Act), a client satisfaction survey, development of a complaint-handling manual, and preparation of reports on problem areas in law and administration.

Another vital part of the strategic planning process was to define the role of the Ombudsman in a precise and distinguishing manner. A reason for doing so was to highlight the distinctive role of the office—how it can add something to the business of government and fulfil a role not discharged adequately by the growing number of other review and complaint mechanisms in government.

The resulting definition—of the vision, mission, values and function of the office—is republished here. The prevailing theme is that the office sees itself as primarily an independent, external, complaint agency. As a complaint agency, the role of the office is to pick up grievances expressed by members of the public and to gauge whether there has been defective administration. As an external agency, the Ombudsman should offer a perspective that might otherwise be lacking within government. As an independent agency, the office must—when the occasion requires—be resilient in pressing an unwelcome or unpopular viewpoint.

'… the office sees itself as primarily an independent, external, complaint agency.'

This core function of the Ombudsman is supplemented by other roles, notably the role of the office in fostering good public administration. However, these other roles spring from the complaint and investigation role of the office and are aimed at supplementing rather than overshadowing the Ombudsman's core function.