BackIt has been a very busy year for the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Office) in Australia.
Michael Manthorpe PSM began his term as Commonwealth Ombudsman on 8 May 2017, taking over from Colin Neave AM.
The Office received a total of 41,301 approaches in 2016–17, nine per cent more than last year.
From 1 December 2016, the Office’s Defence Force complaint function expanded to provide an independent mechanism to report serious abuse in Defence.
The Office also launched the new VET Student Loans Ombudsman function on 1 July 2017. The Office is responsible for investigating complaints, identifying systemic issues, and making recommendations to providers and government regarding providers who deliver training under both VET Student Loans and VET FEE-HELP programs. Since the function commenced, we have received thousands of complaints, mostly about historic VET FEE-HELP debts so we have had to redirect our resources to cope with the demand.
The Office received 5,750 private health insurance complaints this financial year, compared to 4,416 in 2015–16, a 30 per cent increase.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman is also the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Ombudsman. In 2016–17, the Ombudsman prepared for its new functions under the ACT Reportable Conduct Scheme (the scheme) which commenced on 1 July 2017. The scheme addresses employment-related child protection issues.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. While it was an occasion to reflect on its many achievements of the past 40 years, the Office looks with excitement to the future.
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Office) has produced three annual reports: Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2016–17, ACT Ombudsman Annual Report 2016–17 and the ACT Judicial Council Annual Report 2016–17 (not published online).
Read the full Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2016–17 here.
Read the full ACT Ombudsman Annual Report 2016–17 here.
Source: Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia
