PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS 10 May 1976/
GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH OMBUDSMAN
The Government has decided to introduce legislation during
the current session to establish a. Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The Government is concerned that people should be able to
seek appropriate redress from the ' administrative actions
of Government Officials where there has been clear error,
bias, neglect, inattention, delay, incompetence or
arbitrariness. The Ombudsman will investigate complaints by citizens
against administrative acts by Commonwealth Officials.
The Ombudsman's jurisdiction will extend to administrative
acts by officials in the Australian Capital Territory and
the Northern Territory.
The role of the Ombudsman will be complementary to that
of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and other Tribunals
such as the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
The Ombudsman will investigate the merits of a decision if there
are no other established procedures for an appeal from that
decision to another Tribunal. Even in those cases, the
Ombudsman will have power to investigate complaints about
such matters as delays in reaching a decision.
The-Ombudsman will have power to question officials and to
inspect departmental files in investigating a complaint.
If he thinks a complaint to be justified, and the department
concerned does not recitfy the matter to his satisfaction,
the Ombudsman can report to the Prime Minister and to the
Parliament. The independent nature of the Ombudsman and the powers he will
have will provide an assurance that all complaints will be
fully investigated.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act will come into force
on 1 July. The Government hopes to be able to announce an
early date for the appointement of a President to the Tribunal.
./ 2 -W
F76/ 84
L.
The Tribunal and the proposed Ombudsman are part of the
Government's overall concern with administrative review.
The administrative review legislation arose from the
finding of the Kerr Committee on administrative review.
The present Government will be the first Commonwealth
Government to implement legislation to provide for
administrative review. 000oo00000