The Acting NSW Ombudsman, Paul Miller has released his Office’s annual report, highlighting the important role that oversight Agencies play in NSW, especially at a time of crisis.
Mr Miller said the report provided a detailed account of his Office’s work for the year, including its role in monitoring Government Agencies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We prioritised our oversight of those services upon which the most vulnerable members of our community rely, especially our corrective and youth justice system,” Mr Miller said.
“We were conscious of the need to ensure that Agency responses to protect inmates and staff from COVID-19 needed to be reasonable and proportionate,” he said.
“Reduced in-person visits by families as well as by external bodies like us also meant that there would be fewer ‘eyes’ in the system.”
Mr Miller said his Office also worked to ensure people subject to hotel quarantine had an avenue of complaint, and from March to June this year the Office received 115 contacts about hotel quarantine, including 25 actionable complaints about the Ministry of Health.
He said an important part of the Ombudsman’s role was to receive complaints about Government Agencies and other service providers.
“In the 2019-2020 reporting period, the NSW Ombudsman received 33,036 contacts and finalised, 13,764 complaints of which 39 per cent related to NSW Government Departments and Authorities and 33 per cent to custodial services,” he said.
“The decline in complaints this year correlates entirely with the impact of COVID on us, on the public and on Government service provision.”
Mr Miller said the Ombudsman’s Annual Report provided an account of the Office’s other work, including undertaking investigations; monitoring systemic issues; assessing Aboriginal programs; receiving notifications of reportable incidents; providing education and training services; death reviews; providing oversight of the public interest disclosures system; and convening the Child Death Review Team.
The NSW Ombudsman’s 125-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
