Chapter 2
The organisation
History and establishment
The office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman commenced operation on 1 July 1977. The office was established by the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Ombudsman Act) and is in the portfolio administered by the Prime Minister.
The statutory responsibilities of the Ombudsman have expanded as follows:
- 1981—handling complaints about the Australian Federal Police (AFP)
- 1982—handling complaints about freedom of information
- 1983—Defence Force Ombudsman
- 1988—compliance auditing of AFP and National Crime Authority (now Australian Crime Commission (ACC)) telecommunications interception records, with added responsibilities of monitoring controlled operations in 2001 and auditing of surveillance device records in 2004
- 1989—Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Ombudsman
- 1995—Taxation Ombudsman
- 2005—assessing and reporting on the detention of long–term (two years or more) immigration detainees
- 2005—Immigration Ombudsman
- 2005—handling complaints about Commonwealth service providers
- 2006—Postal Industry Ombudsman
- 2006—compliance auditing of access to stored communications by the AFP, ACC, Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and other enforcement agencies (such as the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service), and the use of surveillance devices by state law enforcement agencies under Commonwealth legislation
- 2006—Law Enforcement Ombudsman, with a specific responsibility to review the adequacy and comprehensiveness of the AFP complaint–handling system.
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