Information and resources for young people
What does the Ombudsman do?
We make sure that government agencies, as well as some non-government agencies and services are doing the right thing by the NSW community, including young people.
An important part of our role is to handle complaints from young people when they feel that they have been treated unfairly by an agency funded by government like a school, an accommodation service or similar agencies that provide services to young people. If a young person is unhappy about the way they have been treated, they can complain to us.
Connecting with young people
We have a dedicated youth liaison officer (YLO) who focuses on increasing awareness of the role of the Ombudsman and how we can assist young people and their advocates. Talking to young people in our community assists her to gauge how we can improve their access to our services.
Our YLO also undertakes a community education program focused on raising awareness about how to access the Ombudsman’s services.
Some examples of agencies that we take complaints about include:
- NSW Department of Education (including public schools and TAFE colleges)
- FACS Housing
- Juvenile Justice and Corrective Services NSW
- Community Services
- Roads and Maritime Services, Transport for NSW
- state universities
- disability services
- non-government schools and child care centres with respect to employment-related child protection matters
- agencies that provide substitute residential care
- out-of-home care services
- refuges and boarding houses
- local councils
