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The report relates to a provision of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Family is Culture) Bill 2022, which proposes an amendment to the Ombudsman Act. The amendment concerns the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate complaints in circumstances where there may be related court proceedings. The Bill is currently before the Legislative Assembly, having previously passed the Legislative Council.

NSW Ombudsman Paul Miller has called for greater visibility of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other machine technology by NSW Government agencies.

In a report tabled in Parliament this morning, the Ombudsman has cautioned agencies that using machine technology in ways that do not accord with standards of lawfulness, transparency, fairness and accountability, could lead to findings of maladministration or potentially unlawful conduct.

The NSW Ombudsman has made findings of wrong conduct by the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) in procuring the services of a contractor to ‘act in’ a vacant senior executive role for a period of around 11 months.

The findings, made under section 26 of the Ombudsman Act, include that the department acted unreasonably by treating the initial contract (and an extension a few months later) as ‘emergency procurements’, and that it had acted contrary to law by not notifying them to the NSW Procurement Board.

In a report tabled in Parliament today, the NSW Ombudsman has welcomed the introduction of a bill that re-writes the State’s whistleblower-protection laws.

“The willingness of public officials to come forward and report wrongdoing when they see it is essential to maintaining integrity and public confidence,” the Ombudsman, Paul Miller said. “The current law is overly technical and complex. It requires the public official to navigate a legal minefield.”

There is inherent potential for conflicts of interest when NSW local councils undertake their own developments, according to a new report by the NSW Ombudsman.

The report An inherent conflict of interest: councils as developer and regulator, tabled in Parliament today by Acting Ombudsman Paul Miller, has found this potential exists because there are no clear guidelines or best-practice approaches for instances when a local council is both the developer as well as being the regulator of that development.

The report also highlights an instance when such a conflict of interest led to unlawful action.