Australia | New South Wales Ombudsman publishes Annual Report 2016-17

Professor John McMillan AO, Acting New South Wales (NSW) Ombudsman, released his annual report for 2016-17.

During the reporting year, the NSW Ombudsman  The office dealt with a broad range of issues, including public housing maintenance, water regulation, disability accommodation and support services, school student suspensions, debt recovery, guardianship, prisoner health services, and out-of-home care services for children.

In 2016-17 the NSW Ombudsman:

  • dealt with 46,092 complaints and notifications, an increase of almost 5,000 on the previous year, and 12,000 more than was handled 10 years ago.
  • undertook a preliminary or informal investigation into 2,205 formal complaints with 58% of these matters being resolved or conciliated. Formal suggestions for improvement in relation to another 44 complaints were made.
  • handled over 9,400 notifications of police complaints, child protection reportable conduct matters and disability reportable incidents, scrutinising how well agencies handled these sensitive matters.

The NSW Ombudsman runs the largest education and training program of any Parliamentary Ombudsman in Australia delivering over 400 training workshops to 7,500 people, 100 more than the previous year.

This year the NSW Ombudsman updated the guidelines about effective complaint handling, and good conduct and administrative practice. New fact sheets and resources to help agencies in the disability and children’s services sectors to better handle allegations about abuse of the people in their care were released.

During the reporting year the NSW Ombudsman worked towards improving outcomes for vulnerable children providing significant support to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, making submissions and providing information. The NSW Ombudsman reviewed the operations of the Joint Investigation Response Team, which responds to serious allegations of child abuse and neglect. The NSW Ombudsman also inquired into how schools manage students with complex needs and challenging behaviour. The work the NSW Ombudsman does that relates to children is all about ensuring they are safe and supported, whether they are in residential care, at school or in juvenile detention.

In 2016-17, the NSW Ombudsman visited over 40 regional areas outside Sydney including Aboriginal communities, prisons and schools, connecting with communities and individuals face-to-face. Visiting people where they live and work gives the NSW Ombudsman an opportunity to better understand their concerns and find practical solutions that work.

See the full report below.

 

Source: New South Wales Ombudsman

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