All Investigation Reports

Ombudsman role: All - Department of Human Services - Department of Social Services - Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet - Department of Health - National Disability Insurance - Department of Jobs and Small Business - Indigenous Australians - Immigration - Defence Force - Postal Industry - Overseas Students - VET Student Loans - Private Health Insurance - Commonwealth Ombudsman - International Program

2009

• Aug 2009: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry: Compliance and investigations activities of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) - 13|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This report is the first in a series outlining the results of investigations into the work of the CIU. It reviews CIU policies, procedures, case management systems and quality assurance processes.
• Aug 2009: Executive schemes - 12|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Governments must have legal authority to take the actions they do, much of which comes from legislative power, but many ordinary activities are carried out under Executive power.
• Aug 2009: Putting things right: compensating for defective administration—Administration of decision-making under the scheme for compensation for detriment caused by defective administration - 11|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Ombudsman report—Putting things right: compensating for defective administration—Administration of decision-making under the scheme for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration.
• Jul 2009: Department of Immigration and Citizenship—Invalid visa applications - 10|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report by Commonwealth Ombudsman on DIAC administration and handling of invalid visa applications.
• Jun 2009: Australia Post—Administration of the Mail Redirection Service - 07|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: Report by the Ombudsman on Australia Posts administration of the mail redirection service.
• Jun 2009: Delays in preparation of Heritage Strategies by Australian Government agencies - 09|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report by the Ombudsman on the delay by Australian Government agencies in preparing heritage strategies for buildings they own or control.
• Jun 2009: Child Support Agency: Administration of Departure Prohibition Order powers - 08|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report on the Child Support Agency’s administration of its power to issue an order preventing a child support debtor from leaving Australia without first paying, or making arrangements to pay, their child support debt.
• May 2009: Complaint Handling in Pacific Island Nations without an Ombudsman
  International Program: Seven papers covering the situations for complaint handling against government agencies in the seven Pacific Island Forum countries that did not have an ombudsman in 2008. The seven countries covered are Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau and Niue.
• Apr 2009: Department of Immigration and Citizenship: Detention arrangements: the case of Mr W - 06|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: An abridged report on the immigration detention arrangements for an individual, Mr W.
• Mar 2009: Australian Tax Office: Re-raising written-off tax debts - 04|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Taxation Ombudsman: Report into the ATO’s policies and procedures in re-raising income tax debts that it had previously written off.
• Mar 2009: Australia Post—Complaint about service delivery and complaint handling regarding a registered post article - 05|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: An abridged report on Australia Post’s service delivery and their handling of a complaint about delivery of a registered post article.
• Mar 2009: Use of interpreters: AFP, Centrelink, DEEWR, DIAC - 03|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Complaints to the Ombudsman indicate that interpreter services supplied by many Australian Government agencies are not always provided in an accessible, responsive and fair manner. The Ombudsman initiated an own motion investigation to consider the use of interpreters by four agencies—the AFP, Centrelink, DEEWR and DIAC—and identified eight best practice principles.
• Mar 2009: Assessment of claims for disability support pension from people with acute or terminal illness—An examination of social security law and practice - 02|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report on problems in assessing claims for disability support pension from people who are acutely or terminally ill.
• Mar 2009: Australia Post—Community polling practices: gauging community support for changes to postal delivery services - 01|2009
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: Report on the way Australia Post polls communities to assess the level of support for possible changes to mail delivery.
• 2009 State of the Health Funds Report
  Private Health Insurance: Provides comparative information on the performance and service delivery of health funds

2008

• Dec 2008: Centrelink: Procurement of an optional item via a Request for Tender - 15|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Ombudsman report on Centrelink procurement practices of an optional item via a Request for Tender.
• Dec 2008: Australia Post—Use of notification cards - 14|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: Report on Australia Post’s use of cards to alert an addressee that a postal item is awaiting collection.
• Nov 2008: Child Support Agency, Department of Human Services: Responding to allegations of customer fraud - 12|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This report looks at three complaints that gave rise to this own motion investigation. The report includes a high level review of the various documents that set out the CSA’s current policy for dealing with customer fraud and compares the CSA’s policy with the arrangements that apply elsewhere in the Australian Government.
• Nov 2008: Centrelink and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and forestry—Claim and review processes in administering the Equine Influenza Business Assistance Grant (Third payment) - 13|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s office received complaints from five businesses regarding decisions made by Centrelink and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) on their claims for the third Equine Influenza Business Assistance Grant (EIBAG).
• Oct 2008: Australian Federal Police: Use of powers under the Intoxicated People (Care and Protection) Act 1994 - 11|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This is the Ombudsman’s third own motion investigation and report on the Australian Federal Police’s exercise of powers under the Intoxicated People (Care and Protection) Act.
• Aug 2008: Australian Crime Commission: Use of certain powers under division 2, part 2 of the ACC Act - 10|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report on the ACC’s use of certain examination powers under division 2, part II of the ACC Act 2002, focusing on summonses and notices issued under ss 28 and 29 of the Act.
• Aug 2008: Centrelink: Arrangements for the withdrawal of face-to-face contact with customers - 09|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Commonwealth Ombudsman received a range of complaints from Centrelink customers who had been banned from entering Centrelink offices because of past inappropriate behaviour. The investigation report identifies areas of difficulty and the development of national guidelines for use by Centrelink when arranging withdrawal of face-to-face contact with its customers.
• Aug 2008: Australian Federal Police: Engagement of consultant - 08|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Commonwealth Ombudsman report on investigation into AFP’s procurement guidelines for engaging consultants.
• Jul 2008: Department of Immigration of Citizenship: The Safeguards System - 07|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This own motion investigation was conducted to determine whether DIAC had sufficient checks and balances in place to ensure the Safeguards System is being used appropriately and that it is a reasonably accountable and transparent system.
• Jun 2008: Department of Immigration and Citizenship: Timeliness of decision making under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 - 06|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: In 2005 the Ombudsman received a number of complaints about significant delays by DIAC in processing freedom of information requests.
• Jun 2008: Implementation of job capacity assessments for the purposes of the Welfare to Work initiatives: Examination of administration of current work capacity assessment mechanisms - 05|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Ombudsman’s office received 140 complaints relating to the job capacity assessment (JCA) process. Although complaints varied, common themes were identified, and the report focuses on these issues and current JCA practices and procedures and their impact on customers.
• Apr 2008: Damage caused to inbound international postal items: The Roles of Australia Post, Australian Customs Service, and Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service - 04|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: The Ombudsman’s office receives complaints each year about damaged inbound international mail items. The damage may have been caused while the item was in the mail stream either inside or outside Australia, or during border inspection. We decided to conduct an investigation to clarify the responsibilities of the three agencies involved in the processing of inbound international mail—Australia Post, the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.
• Apr 2008: Department of Defence—Allegations concerning the HMAS Westralia fire - 03|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report into Commonwealth and Defence Force Ombudsman, Prof. John McMillan into allegations that Defence was forewarned about safety risks to HMAS Westralia three months before the 5 May 1998 fire.
  Appendix C—Transcript of the 6 February 1998 meeting between IGD investigators and Baileys Diesel Services P/L
• Apr 2008: Department of Immigration and Citizenship—Administration of detention debt waiver and write-off - 02|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Overall, the Ombudsman’s investigation found that DIAC is administering debt waiver and write-off according to the legislative and policy requirements. However, the investigation also found scope for improvement. In particular, DIAC can improve the information it provides to people, timeliness and prioritisation in processing cases, and the consistency and reasonableness of decisions on debt waiver and write-off.
• Feb 2008: Centrelink—Payment of independent rate of youth allowance to a young person - 01|2008
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This is an abridged version of report 01|2008. The full report has not been made publicly available to preserve the privacy of the complainant.
• 2008 State of the Health Funds Report
  Private Health Insurance: Provides comparative information on the performance and service delivery of health funds
• Taxation Ombudsman activities 2008
  Taxation Ombudsman: Taxation Ombudsman activities

2007

• Dec 2007: Comcare—Identifying the rehabilitation authority of a former Australian Government employee - 18|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report on an investigation of two complaints about Comcare identifying a rehabilitation authority for former Australian Government employees.
• Dec 2007: Australia Post—Investigation of a complaint about a Postal Delivery Officer - 17|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman; Postal Industry: This is an abridged version of report 17|2007. The full report has not been made publicly available to preserve the privacy of the complainant.
• December 2007: Application of penalties under Welfare to Work - 16|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Ombudsman’s investigation identified seven primary areas of inconsistency. The report discusses Centrelink’s processing practices in the context of their consistency with the social security law and policy guidelines, as well as their impact on customers.
• December 2007: Department of Immigration and Citizenship—Notification of decisions and review rights for unsuccessful visa applications - 15|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Ombudsman initiated an own motion investigation to examine notification of decisions and review rights that are provided to unsuccessful visa applicants. The investigation assessed the quality of DIAC’s notification letters and whether they accorded with the requirements of the Migration Act.
• October 2007: Marriage-like relationships—Policy guidelines for assessment under social security law - 14|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: Based on the difficulty decision makers appeared to be experiencing in applying the aspect of social security law relating to people who can be said to be ‘members of a couple’, the Ombudsman decided to undertake an investigation on an own motion basis into the policy guidelines for assessing marriage-like relationships under the legislation.
• October 2007: Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources—Failure to provide adequate reasons for a decision refusing an R&D Start Grant application - 13|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: This is an abridged version of report 13|2007. The full report has not been made publicly available due to the amount of personal detail it contains.
• September 2007: Law Enforcement and Defence Complaint Handling
  International Program: Workshop proceedings - Papua New Guinea.
• August 2007: Commonwealth courts and tribunals: Complaint-handling processes and the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction - 12|2007
  Commonwealth Ombudsman: The Ombudsman initiated this project to review issues relating to the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and the complaint-handling processes of courts and tribunals.
  Individual responses of each court and tribunal (PDF)

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