The Commonwealth Ombudsman, Colin Neave, today released his report of the Investigation into service delivery complaints about Centrelink. The report features 40 case studies which illustrate the problems that led 9600 Centrelink customers to complain to the Ombudsman’s office between January 2012 and September 2013.

On 23 April 2014 Ombudsman Dr. Günther Kräuter welcomed a group of law students from the University of Leiden (the Netherlands) in Vienna.

Queen Margaret University (QMU) is offering a fully funded bursary to support an exceptional individual to conduct PhD research in the area of alternative dispute resolution.

On 16 April 2014, the first webinar co-sponsored by the World Bank, Open Government Partnership and the IOI was held. More than 90 participants followed the webinar ensuring a lively debate.

Due to delays in the transfer of family pension, the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh issued directives to the authorities concerned to initiate enquiries against the officers/officials responsible for delaying the matter of the widow complaining.

Further to complaints it received concerning the time associated with coroners’ investigations, the Québec Ombudsman looked into the issue fraught with adverse human and financial consequences for the loved ones of the deceased.

The Ombudsman initiated investigative proceedings in October 2012 in order to examine whether eviction prevention policies were being applied consistently and whether the process was in keeping with the recommendations made two years earlier.

Every year the American news magazine assembles the 100 most influential people in the world and publishes its annual Time 100 list. This year, Time Magazine included South Africa’s Public Protector, Adv. Thuli Madonsela as one of the world’s most influential people in the category “Leaders”.