The NSW Ombudsman’s powers are to be clarified and enhanced under proposed legislative amendments requested by Ombudsman Paul Miller.
Introducing the Ombudsman Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, Attorney General Mark Speakman said that if passed, the Bill would make 25 amendments to the two pieces of legislation that govern the functions of the Ombudsman.
“The Ombudsman Act 1974 and the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993 have not been significantly reviewed or substantively amended for a number of years,” Mr Speakman said.
“The proposed amendments in this Bill were requested by the Ombudsman, Paul Miller PSM, and will clarify and enhance the Ombudsman’s powers, resolve inconsistencies, and update the legislation,” he said.
“In particular, the Bill proposes an amendment to the Ombudsman Act to enable the Ombudsman to review the systems used by public authorities for handling complaints.”
Mr Speakman said the Ombudsman currently had audit and monitoring powers over Agencies performing functions under particular Acts, as well as broad powers to investigate the conduct of a public authority but did not have a general power to review the complaint handling systems of public authorities.
“The proposed power will enable the Ombudsman to assist agencies, in a collaborative manner, to improve their own complaint-handling systems,” the Attorney General said.
He said the proposed amendments would also extend the Ombudsman’s powers in relation to a public authority to a ‘former’ public authority, ensure that a detained person was able to make an oral complaint about the conduct of a public authority in a way that was not recorded or monitored, and enable the Ombudsman to refer a complaint about the conduct of a public authority to the authority for investigation.
