05 Nov 2010: Letter to the Editor The Australian

I refer to the article ‘Cover-up claim as Ombudsman decides against report on green schemes’ by Lanai Vasek (2 Nov. 2010), in which it was asserted that the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman ‘covered up’ an investigation into the Government’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

I strongly reject this claim.

The majority of complaints my office investigated concerned the failure of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) to respond adequately to enquiries and complaints about the programs, not the substance of the programs.

It should be noted that at the time no fewer than four substantive and independent inquiries or reviews into the nature of the programs were in progress, including by the Australian National Audit Office.

The inference in your paper’s article is that an Ombudsman report on its investigations was prepared and not published, when in point of fact no report was drafted.

My office chose instead to work closely with DEWHA and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to implement improved complaint-handling policies and procedures, with reference to the Ombudsman’s Better practice guide to complaint handling.

Both departments agreed to our recommendations for improving their services, as reported in the Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2009-10.

Yours faithfully

[via email]

Allan Asher
Commonwealth Ombudsman

Date of release: 5 November 2010