Expanded Inquiry and Inspection Powers for the Ombudsman
Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
Assent
Topics
Aboriginal affairs government accountability Indigenous affairs ombudsman powers privacy and data public authority conduct public complaints
Introduced by: The Hon John Graham MLC (ALP); Jo Haylen MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Alister Henskens LIB
“On behalf of the Opposition I make a short contribution to debate on the Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. I indicate that the Opposition will be supporting the bill and will also be supporting the proposed further amendment to the bill, for reasons that I will make clear.”
Janelle Saffin ALP
“I speak in support of the Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. I make some key points to recognise the position of the Government. It seems that there is agreement all round, but the Government proposed the changes in the bill. It did that in good faith at the request of and in consultation with the Ombudsman.”
Greg Warren ALP
“I am delighted to contribute to debate on the Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The Ombudsman’s office is an independent integrity agency that oversees the public sector of New South Wales and investigates complaints regarding most government agencies, local councils and community service providers.”
Donna Davis ALP
“I speak in support of the Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The Ombudsman’s office is an independent integrity agency that oversees the New South Wales public sector and investigates complaints regarding most New South Wales government agencies, local councils and community service providers.”
Nathan Hagarty ALP
“I speak in debate on the Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. The bill comes about as the result of a request by the Ombudsman to amend legislation that governs both the functions of the NSW Ombudsman and the Ombudsman’s office, which the Government has acted on.”
Jo Haylen ALP
“At the outset, I foreshadowed that the Government would move an amendment to the bill during consideration in detail. As members are aware, the bill proposes amendments to the Ombudsman Act 1974 and the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993 to implement a number of amendments proposed by the Ombudsman’s office.”
News articles and press releases
Ombudsman and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
The Hon. JOHN GRAHAM, Minister for Roads — 2024-05-09
Item [4] of schedule 1 to the bill proposes to omit section 13AA (1) and replace it with a new provision. In addition to the current provision that the Ombudsman may make preliminary inquiries for the purposes of deciding whether to investigate the conduct of a public authority, the proposed new provision will provide that preliminary inquiries can be made for the purposes of deciding whether the Ombudsman has jurisdiction over particular conduct or considering the exercise of a function of the Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act or another Act. That will facilitate the effective and efficient performance of the Ombudsman’s functions in circumstances where an investigation is not available or is not indicated. Any information disclosed to the Ombudsman as a result of preliminary inquiries would be protected by the statutory confidentiality obligations of the Ombudsman and their officers.