Our purpose

Provide accessible and effective services

We work in the public interest and in doing so provide services to the people of NSW, both individually and collectively; public and community service agencies; and the NSW Parliament.

The focus of this goal is on the accessibility and effectiveness of our services across all our functions and for all stakeholders.

Proactively identify and bring to light what needs to change to improve fairness

Our jurisdiction is wide and there are many issues we could look at. We hold others to account by bringing to light what needs to change to improve fairness. By sharpening our focus, we can better target our resources to identify, prioritise and address important issues.

Our goal is to enhance the impact our work has through improved external engagement and internal coordination – guiding us on the issues we need to act on and how. We seek to leverage data, streamline our processes to be action-oriented, and apply proportionality and urgency to our work. The more proactive and faster we are at identifying and addressing emerging issues, the greater our impact.

Support agencies with advice and guidance consistent with our independence and functions

We are uniquely positioned to help prevent maladministration and enhance fairness in the sector we oversight by sharing lessons and insights, and providing advice and guidance to agencies.

Our goal is to drive sector capability by becoming increasingly proactive as thought leaders in the essential domains related to our jurisdiction and functions.

Invest holistically in our people and systems to achieve organisational excellence, now and into the future

Our people and systems are the foundation for our success and shape our path to achieving our strategic objectives.

We will be forward-looking with focus on our technology and the tools that can support us with our work.

We will continue to bring to light what needs to change to improve fairness. We will do this, as we always have, with independence and impartiality, an objective, open-minded and courageous evaluation and reporting of the evidence, an unrelenting focus on the public interest, and a commitment to fairness both in the outcomes we seek and the way we do our own work. These are some of the features of our ‘Ombudsman-craft’.

We follow the letter and intent of the law, operate within our statutory role, communicate honestly, transparently and respectfully, make fair decisions that serve the public interest, and behave to the same high standard we expect from others.

We operate objectively, impartially and ethically in our pursuit of fairness.

We are purpose-driven in every action, working constructively to serve the people of NSW with courage and perseverance.

We are open-minded, inquisitive and focused on continuous improvement, seeking out pathways to achieve impactful outcomes in the public interest.

We are committed to working together towards our shared goals and achieving the best outcomes for the communities we serve, leveraging our collective strengths and diverse perspectives.