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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

29 May

More than shelter - special report

Our latest report assesses what the NSW Department of Communities and Justice has done to improve responses to children who present alone to homelessness services. We first reported on this issue in 2018 and again in 2020. There are still outstanding actions needed.

28 Feb

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

The Department of Communities & Justice (DCJ)  had a five-year strategy to reduce overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care (OOHC).

The strategy did not reduce Aboriginal over-representation in OOHC. None of the four targets were achieved. There was some progress toward each target, and DCJ came close to achieving one.

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.

Other reports