Interagency agreements

Under our legislation, we can enter into arrangements with other agencies about a range of matters, including complaint handling. Our legislation also allows us to negotiate formal agreements with some agencies about how contact with our office will be managed. These agreements are publicly available and can be obtained by contacting our office.

We categorise these arrangements as follows:

Class and kind agreements

We enter into class or kind determinations with certain agencies when we are satisfied that their investigative practices have reached an acceptable standard and we are confident that this standard will be maintained.

Memorandum of understanding

We negotiate a memorandum of understanding with an agency to either ensure clarity of roles in circumstances where there may be overlapping jurisdiction or where it is advantageous to document procedures to be followed by agency when responding to our informal investigations and inquiries. A memorandum of understanding can be negotiated under legislative provisions or can be at our discretion.

• Memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and the Office of the Information Commissioner
• Memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and the Department of Local Government
• Memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and IAB Services
• Memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and Energy and Water Ombudsman

Information sharing and complaint referral arrangements

From time to time we may need to disclose information that we receive during the course of our work to another agency. We have a formal agreement with those relevant agencies that provides for the circumstances in which we can disclose information.

• Information sharing arrangement with Health Care Complaints Commission
• Legal Services Commissioner
• Anti Discrimination Board and Privacy Commissioner

Occasionally, we may receive complaints that are either outside our jurisdiction or would be better managed by another complaint-handling agency. We have a formal agreement with those relevant agencies that set out the circumstances where we can refer such complaints.