Wodonga Council collected at least $18 million in extra revenue from its waste management levy over the past decade, using the surplus to fund other council services, the Ombudsman has found. Tabling her Investigation into Wodonga City Council’s overcharging of a waste management levy in the Victorian Parliament today, Ombudsman Deborah Glass said about 70 per cent of the revenue raised through the charge had been spent on waste-related services. Nearly a third had been spent on other council services, such as the maintenance of parks, gardens and other council activities.

As part of its strategies to contribute towards realisation of the right to access to justice by Kenyans, the Commission has carried out free legal aid forums in Makueni County. The public forums, conducted in three different towns, are aimed at creating and enhancing citizens’ awareness on administrative justice and on their right to access to information and how it promotes access to justice.

IOI President and Irish Ombudsman Peter Tyndall welcomed the Minister for Justice and Equality’s announcement that it will move forward on implementing the recommendations following the investigation into how the Department of Justice and Equality administered the Magdalen Restorative Justice scheme. The report of his investigation, Opportunity Lost, was critical of how the Department administered the scheme, including how some women who worked in the Magdalen laundries have been wrongly refused access to the scheme.