CHAPTER 5how the ombudsman helped people

Ms A contacted our office alleging that a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) member had presented as evidence, in a private legal matter, a letter allegedly sent to Ms A by the Commanding Officer (CO) of the local RAAF unit. While Ms A had received a letter from the CO, the version she had received differed considerably from the one presented during the legal proceedings. Ms A was concerned that the RAAF member may have accessed documents that he was not authorised to access and used the document for a purpose other than that intended by the CO.

Following our contact with the Department of Defence, the CO agreed to initiate a formal internal investigation to determine how the version of the document had been accessed and whether or not security and privacy regulations had been breached. Ms A was satisfied that our involvement had resulted in an investigation being initiated.

Mr H raised concerns about the counter service given by one Centrelink office. He claimed he had to stand in a queue for almost an hour before being served, and was concerned that Centrelink made no effort to put more staff on during a busy period.

Ombudsman staff raised Mr H's concerns with the relevant Centrelink office manager, who agreed to contact Mr H directly to discuss the matter. Mr H was satisfied with the action and clarification given by Centrelink.

Mr I ran a small business and relied on his wife to manage the financial aspects of the business. Unbeknown to Mr I, his wife was suffering from a deteriorating mental health condition and had allowed the business to get behind with its tax affairs. Mr I complained to the Ombudsman about the apparent decision of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to deny him release from his tax debts.

Following our inquiries and the provision of additional information, we suggested that given Mr I's compelling personal circumstances there might be scope for the ATO to take a more flexible approach. While release from the debt was still not an option, the ATO agreed to remit accumulated interest on Mr I's tax debts and negotiated a suitable repayment arrangement that took into account Mr I's capacity to repay the debt.