Ombudsman Western Australia Serving Parliament - Serving Western Australians

 

Decision reconsidered for a victim of domestic violence A woman was forced to move out of her home into a refuge due to domestic violence. As a result, the woman was not aware that her vehicle registration papers had been sent to her home address. The woman became aware that the vehicle was no longer registered when paying her driver’s licence and she was required to pay for a temporary vehicle movement permit, a vehicle inspection fee and a fine for not returning the number plates. The woman complained to the Office about the fees and fine. Following enquiries by the Office, the public authority agreed to reconsider the matter taking into account the woman’s particular circumstances. After giving further consideration, the public authority agreed to refund the fees and withdraw the fine.

 

Outcomes to improve public administration

In addition to providing individual remedies, complaint resolution can also result in improved public administration. This occurs when the public authority takes action to improve its decision making and practices in order to address systemic issues and prevent similar complaints in the future. Administrative improvements include changes to policy and procedures, changes to business systems or practices and staff development and training.

About the Complaints

Of the 2,190 complaints received, 1,551 were about public authorities that are within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The remaining 639 complaints were about bodies outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. In these cases, Ombudsman staff provided assistance to enable the people making the complaint to take the complaint to a more appropriate body.
Public authorities in the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction fall into three sectors: the public sector (1,080 complaints) which includes State Government departments, statutory authorities and boards; the local government sector (388 complaints); and the university sector (83 complaints).

The proportion of complaints about each sector in the last five years is shown in the following chart.

Complaints Received about Public Authorities within the Ombudsman’s Jurisdiction between 2012-13 and 2016-17

 

The Public Sector

In 2016-17, there were 1,080 complaints received about the public sector and 1,068 complaints were finalised. The number of complaints about the public sector as a whole since 2012-13 is shown in the chart below.

Complaints Received about the Public Sector between 2012-13 and 2016-17

 

Public sector agencies are very diverse. In 2016-17, complaints were received about 55 agencies as shown in the following chart.

Of the 1,080 complaints received about the public sector in 2016-17, 81% were about six key areas covering:

• Corrective services, in particular prisons (353 or 33%);
• Police (162 or 15%);
• Public housing (135 or 12%);
• Transport (96 or 9%);
• Child protection (79 or 7%); and
• Education – public schools and TAFE colleges (57 or 5%). Information about universities is shown separately under the University Sector.

The remaining complaints about the public sector (198) were about 40 other State Government departments, statutory authorities and boards. For 29 (73%) of these agencies, the Office received five complaints or less.

Outcomes of complaints about the public sector

In 2016-17, there were 251 actions taken by public sector bodies as a result of Ombudsman action following a complaint. These resulted in 215 remedies being provided to complainants and 36 improvements to public sector practices.

The following case study illustrates the outcomes arising from complaints about the public sector. Further information about the issues raised in complaints and the outcomes of complaints is shown in the following tables for each of the six key areas and for the other public sector agencies as a group.

Application reinstated after Ombudsman involvement A person submitted an application to a public authority. The public authority requested additional information from the person to support their application and specified the timeframe for providing this information. Although the person provided the additional information within the required timeframe, the public authority withdrew the person’s application when the timeframe elapsed. The person complained to the Office about the withdrawal of the application. Following enquiries by the Office, the public authority reviewed the person’s file and found that the person had provided the information within the specified timeframe but the public authority had not placed the information on the person’s file until after the application was withdrawn. The public authority wrote to the person and reinstated their application, acknowledged the information had been received but had not been filed, apologised for any inconvenience caused and undertook actions to reduce the risk of such an error occurring again.

 

 

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