People from the desert, from the coast, coming together to meet and talk.

Artist: Jasmine Sarin, a proud Kamilaroi and Jerrinja woman.

Our work with Aboriginal people

We prepare reports and submissions to Parliament, on problems raised with us by Aboriginal people, communities and organisations.

Since 2005, we have prepared more than 20 reports and submissions. These reports have led to a number of practical changes to the way agencies and service providers carry out their work in delivering services to Aboriginal people and communities, such as:

  • Fostering economic developmentfor Aboriginal people in NSW
  • Aboriginal Economic prosperity framework
  • Aboriginal Procurement Advisory Committee (APAC)
  • Steering committees in regional NSW like: Wilcannia, Moree and Walgett

Who can I complain about?

  • NSW government agencies and authorities – Department of Planning and Environment, Department of Education, Department of Customer Service, Transport for NSW, and Department of Communities and Justice,  Housing NSW, as well as local Aboriginal land councils, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, and the Office of the Registrar of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.
  • Government funded community service providers – including out-of-home care agencies and child and family support services.

We oversee the work of many organisations, including the departments of Industry, Planning and Environment, Customer Service, Transport, Education and Training  (including schools, TAFE and early childhood), Communities and Justice (including Housing), and Health, and non-government organisations that provide community services, such as accommodation, counselling, emergency assistance and recreational activities.

Handling complaints about government agencies and community service providers

If you think you have been treated unfairly by a government agency or service provider or have not received the services you need, you may choose to make a complaint to us.

STEP 1: Usually, you should try to fix the problem  first by contacting the agency or service provider yourself. You can contact us if you need help to do this. If we cannot help you, we will refer you to somebody who can.

STEP 2: We handle complaints for you. Depending on the issue, we can:

  • directly investigate a complaint
  • look into a complaint you have already made
  • take other steps to help you resolve your complaint with the agency or service provider.

If the complaint affects more than one person, we may also bring together community members, agencies and services to come up with local solutions and prevent problems from re-occurring.

Contact us for more information

Level 24,
580 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Toll free: 1800 451 524 (outside Sydney metro)
Email: Aboriginal Programs Monitoring
Web: https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/
National Relay System: 133 677
Telephone Interpreter Service (TIS): 131 450
We can arrange an interpreter through TIS or you can contact TIS yourself before speaking to us.

© State of New South Wales, September 2019
This publication is released under a Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0.

Publication metadata

ISBN 978-1-921884-98-6
Category Fact sheets
Publication Date 30 June 2023