The Victorian Ombudsman has experienced unprecedented demand for her services with complaints to her Office about public organisations reaching record highs during last financial year.
Releasing her Annual Report 2021, Ombudsman, Deborah Glass said the decisions of Public Servants which neglected human rights led to many of the complaints.
Ms Glass (pictured) said complaints to her Office increased by 12 per cent, to more than 18,000, and data revealed that the Ombudsman’s geographical spread had also increased.
“We have taken complaints from almost half of all Victorian postcodes,” Ms Glass said.
“We continued to provide a service to the public every working day,” she said.
“Unlike many other Public Services, our phone lines remained open all year, while online complaints increased.”
Ms Glass said local Councils topped the list of most complained about public bodies, while complaints about community and public housing, Corrections, COVID-19 public health directions, Registry of Birth Deaths and Marriages and Fines Victoria were also common.
The Ombudsman said her Office received 2,770 complaints about human rights breaches in 2020-21.
She said human rights could not be ignored, “especially during a global pandemic”.
“We continue to remind public officials of the sometimes unwelcome truth that human rights still matter.”
Ms Glass said undisclosed conflicts of interest continued to dominate the list of misconduct allegations.
“Some themes never change and instances of poor behaviour by public officials continued to be investigated and exposed,” she said.
The Ombudsman’s 139-page Annual Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
