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Our voice to Parliament

The NSW Ombudsman is an independent integrity agency, accountable to the people of NSW. We report directly to the Parliament of NSW.

Where we identify matters of serious public interest, we can make a public report to Parliament.

We also support the work of Parliamentary Committees by making submissions to public inquiries.

Our latest reports

28 Feb

Aboriginal outcomes strategy focus area 2 (Out of home care) - were the targets achieved

This report assesses the extent to which the Department of Communities & Justice’s (DCJ) achieved its five-year strategy to reduce overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care (OOHC).

The Ombudsman’s report shows that the AOS did not achieve its goal of reducing Aboriginal over-representation in OOHC. None of the four targets directed toward that goal were achieved. There was some progress toward each target, and DCJ came close to achieving one of the targets.

21 Nov

PID audit report - summary PID audits of 6 councils

This report sets out the findings of audits we conducted on six local government councils
under the PID Act 1994.

25 Oct

Formal Investigations - Summary Report 2021-22

This special report contains a summary of formal investigations completed by the NSW Ombudsman in the last 12 months. Whether or not a special report has been prepared in respect of a particular investigation, it is the Ombudsman’s current practice to publish and present to Parliament a special report annually that identifies and briefly summarises the formal investigations that were completed in the previous 12 months. This report is the annual summary report to 30 September 2022.

7 Sep

The COVID-19 pandemic: second report

In this report the NSW Ombudsman Paul Miller has looked back on complaints received by the Ombudsman since his March 2021 report on the COVID pandemic.  The report reveals that the number of COVID-related complaints to the Ombudsman rose significantly in the second year of the pandemic. His office received 1,046 COVID-related actionable complaints in the 2021-22 financial year – more than double the number received in 2020-21.

31 Aug

Specialist homelessness services: helping people with high or complex needs

In this report, NSW Ombudsman Paul Miller found that the NSW Government has provided inadequate rules, guidance, and support to Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) about when it is, and is not, permissible and appropriate for SHS to consider excluding or evicting a homeless person.

29 Jul

Modifying public housing properties to meet the needs of tenants with disability

In this report we examine the experiences of public housing tenants with disability who requested modifications to their properties. The report is informed by complaints and a recently finalised targeted investigation into the delivery of those services by the Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) and the Department of Communities and Justice – Housing (DCJ Housing).

Other reports