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). 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 IOI has started the first phase of its membership evaluation process, which will be conducted on a rolling basis. The first 60 members have received the evaluation forms in our three official languages and can choose which one suits them best. We highly appreciate your active participation in this confidential evaluation, which has a non-punititve charater. The final report of this membership evaluation process will be presented by the Office of the Secretary General at the 2020 World Conference in Dublin.

 

New Zealand’s Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has released his final opinion on the complaint concerning the seclusion of a child at Ruru Specialist School. He underlined that the family had been let down by the school and education agencies, and acknowledged the subsequent changes to legislation that prohibit the use of seclusion in any New Zealand school.

 

The Banking Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Pakistan has issued the twelfth Annual Report for the year ending 31 December, 2016. Like the previous reports, the current annual report also includes analysis of systemic deficiencies and control weaknesses in banks which the Banking Mohtasib came across during the course of investigations of complaints in the year under review. 

The Acting NSW Ombudsman Professor John McMillan tabled a progress report in Parliament today on his investigation into water compliance and enforcement. Water is a vital public asset. It is also a scarce public resource in Australia. Regulating how water can be accessed and used is a matter of intense public interest.

The eighth training session of the Association of the Mediterranean Ombudsmen, jointly organized by the AOM and the Ombudsman Institution in the Kingdom of Morocco, was successfully held on October 18 and 19, 2017 at the Training and Exchange in mediation Center in Casablanca. Dispensed to the collaborators of the Association’s member mediators, this session was an opportunity to discuss the theme of « the deontology of security forces and the rights of migrants during their migratory journey: the role of Ombudsmen institutions ».

The IOI capacity-building workshop on “Human Rights in the Digital Age” will be held in Tallinn (Estonia) from 23 – 24 January 2018. The workshop will explore contemporary challenges in digital society and the Ombudsman’s role in protecting human rights in this digital age. Registration is still open until 1 December 2017!

Se publica una nueva infografía con los resultados emergentes del procesamiento de la Base de datos de casos de Tortura y Malos Tratos Investigados por la PPN, actualizados al primer semestre de 2017. Durante el primer semestre de 2017 se registraron 323 casos de tortura y malos tratos.