Ombudsman's Message
Welcome to the NSW Ombudsman’s website. My name is Bruce Barbour, and I have been the NSW Ombudsman since 2000.
Introduction
Since the appointment of the first NSW Ombudsman in 1975, our office has aimed to ensure that the people of NSW are provided with fair, accountable and responsive administrative decision-making and practice.
In order to provide the best service possible, we continually strive to develop more sophisticated and pro-active means of ensuring that agencies within our jurisdiction administer services effectively and fairly. As well as handling complaints, we:
- audit systems and inspect records;
- conduct own motion inquiries and investigations;
- review investigations conducted by agencies;
- undertake research and project work;
- provide organisations with the opportunity for their staff to undergo training, and
- prepare a range of publications and guidelines on topics such as good administrative practice and complaint handling.
I hope that you will find the information included on our site useful. If you need any further assistance, please email, call or write to us.
Current issues
In November I travelled to Fremantle, Western Australia to attend the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference. The conference provided an opportunity to focus on trends, strategies and future directions in preventing corruption in the Australian Public Sector.
As part of the conference, I spoke at a panel discussion about taser use in policing, where I highlighted that developing systems to review and monitor police taser use is fundamental to preventing their misuse.
I also gave a speech titled Risky business: the potential for improper influence in the non-government sector, calling for a consistent approach to the administration of funding in the non-government sector. Both of the sessions were well received and provided a good opportunity to represent the views of our office on two highly topical and important issues.
On 9 December, Ombudsman Victoria hosted the second meeting of the Australian Parliamentary Ombudsman for 2011 in Melbourne. This meeting follows from the success of the first meeting held at our office in July.
The event provided a valuable opportunity for all Parliamentary Ombudsman to meet to discuss issues and challenges relevant to our offices and better insight into other and new jurisdictions. The meetings are a successful initiative of 2011 and I look forward to continuing this practice with my fellow Ombudsman in 2012.
I have had the opportunity to take stock of the last year and the many new challenges we have faced. It has been a year when new responsibilities have required us to work hard to maintain our usual high standard of quality services under the strain of an increasing workload and limited resources. We are meeting the challenges of our changing environment and although there is another busy year ahead, I am confident we will continue to work effectively in the public interest.
My best wishes to all for the holiday season.
Further information about these and other topics can be accessed at our latest news page.
