(1) The Minister may, on the recommendation of the Ombudsman, appoint an eligible person to be an Official Community Visitor for the purposes of this Act. (2) An eligible person is one who, in the opinion of the Minister:
(a) has appropriate knowledge and expertise in the matters relating to community services in which the person would be most involved as an Official Community Visitor, and (b) has a commitment to the objectives of the community welfare legislation, and (c) has skills in the solving of problems about access to, and the use of, community services, and (d) is not employed in the Department of Community Services, or the Ageing and Disability Department, as an officer or temporary employee within the meaning of the . Public Sector Management Act 1988
(1) An Official Community Visitor may:
(a) at any reasonable time, enter and inspect a place at which a visitable service is provided, and (b) confer alone with any person who is resident or employed at such a place, and (c) inspect any document held at such place which relates to the operation of a visitable service, and (d) provide the relevant Minister in relation to the provider of the visitable service and the Ombudsman with advice or reports on any matters relating to the conduct of such a place, and (e) exercise such other functions as may be prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section. (2) Before inspecting a document as referred to in subsection (1), the Official Community Visitor must take all reasonable steps to ascertain, and must have regard to (but is not bound by), the wishes of any person to whom the document relates and for whom a service is provided at that place.
(1) The Ombudsman is to establish a Community Services Division to perform the Ombudsman’s functions under this Act, subject to the directions of the Ombudsman under section 8A of the and the delegation of those functions under section 10 of that Act. Ombudsman Act 1974
(1) The Ombudsman may, on application or on the Ombudsman’s own initiative, review the situation of a child in care or a person in care, or of a group of children in care or persons in care. (2) In carrying out a review, the Ombudsman is to look at such aspects of the welfare, status, progress and circumstances of the child or children or the person or persons the subject of the review as are referred to in the application or as the Ombudsman thinks fit.
(1) The Ombudsman is to review the systems of service providers for handling complaints relating to the provision of services by, or the conduct of, service providers.
(1) The Ombudsman may enter any part of premises at or from which the services of a service provider are provided and may there exercise the powers conferred by this section, but only if:
(a) in a case where the power is exercised under delegation by an officer of the Ombudsman, the officer is in possession of a certificate of authority issued by the Ombudsman and produces the certificate if required to do so by a person apparently in occupation of the premises, and (b) the Ombudsman gives reasonable notice to an occupier of the premises of intention to exercise the power, unless the giving of notice would defeat the purpose for which it is intended to exercise the power, and (c) the Ombudsman exercises the power at a reasonable hour of the day, unless it is being exercised in an emergency, and (d) the Ombudsman uses no more force than is reasonably necessary. (2) The Ombudsman is not entitled to enter a part of premises used for residential purposes, except:
(a) with the consent of the occupier, or (b) under the authority of a search warrant. (3) The Ombudsman may do any of the following:
(a) inspect the premises and make notes in relation to the inspection, (b) examine, seize, retain or remove any equipment that the Ombudsman reasonably believes is, has been or may be used in connection with a complaint or other matter being investigated, (c) require a person having access to records relating to the conduct of the premises or the delivery of services to produce records for inspection, (d) make copies of, or take extracts from, those records, (e) for the purpose of further examination, take possession of, and remove, any of those records, (f) require the owner or occupier of those premises to provide the Ombudsman with such assistance and facilities as is or are reasonably necessary to enable the Ombudsman to exercise functions under this section.
(1) The Ombudsman may apply to an authorised officer for a search warrant if the Ombudsman has reasonable grounds for believing that:
(a) on specified premises, this Act is being contravened, or (b) entry to specified premises for the purpose of carrying out a search is necessary for the purposes for which powers under this Division may be exercised. (2) An authorised officer to whom an application is made under this section may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, issue a search warrant to the Ombudsman to enter and search the premises.
(1) A person may make a complaint to the Ombudsman about the conduct of a service provider with respect to the provision, failure to provide, withdrawal, variation or administration of a community service in respect of a particular person or group of persons. (2) A complaint under subsection (1) may be made about the conduct of any person who is an employee of, or who acts for or on behalf of, a service provider.
(1) A community services complaint may be made by any person who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Ombudsman that he or she has a genuine concern in the subject-matter of the complaint.
(1) The (other than section 12 (1) and (4) of that Act) applies to or in respect of a complaint made under this Act about the conduct of a service provider, and any conduct of a service provider, in the same way that it applies to or in respect of a complaint made under that Act about the conduct of a public authority or to conduct of a public authority. Ombudsman Act 1974
(1) The Ombudsman may refer a community services complaint (or any part of a community services complaint) to another person or body (including a service provider) if it appears that the complaint raises issues that may require investigation by the other person or body. (2) Despite the referral of a complaint (or part of a complaint), the Ombudsman may, if the Ombudsman considers there are appropriate reasons to do so, continue to deal with the complaint.
(1) An application may be made to the Tribunal by any person who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Tribunal that he or she has a genuine concern in the subject-matter of the decision concerned. (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), an application may be made by any person who is responsible for, is a next friend of or is appointed by the Tribunal to represent the person to whom the application relates.
(1) The Tribunal may decline to hear or determine an application if, in the opinion of the Tribunal:
(a) the applicant has available an alternative and satisfactory means of redress, or (b) the applicant has not made appropriate attempts to have the matter to which the application relates resolved otherwise, or (c) the ground for the application is unacceptable having regard to the frequency of applications previously made by or on behalf of the appellant in respect of the same subject-matter.
(1) In any proceedings before the Tribunal, the parties to the proceedings may appear in person or, by leave of the Tribunal, may be represented by an Australian legal practitioner or by an agent. (2) The Ombudsman has a right to appear in proceedings before the Tribunal in order to assist the Tribunal otherwise than as a party.
(1) The Tribunal may, if in the particular circumstances of the case it is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do so, make orders with respect to the payment of costs of proceedings before it.
(1) The Ombudsman must prepare a report every 2 years on the Ombudsman’s work and activities under this Part for the preceding 2 calendar years. The first such biennial report is to be prepared in respect of the 2-year period ending on 31 December 2009.
(1) The Ombudsman has the following audit functions in relation to the Interagency Plan:
(a) to review the implementation of the Interagency Plan by public authorities of the State that have functions under the Plan, (b) to identify any areas in which further action is required by those public authorities to implement the Interagency Plan, (c) to make recommendations for the more efficient and effective implementation of the Interagency Plan by those public authorities.
(1) It is the duty of the head of a public authority that has functions under the Interagency Plan to provide the Ombudsman with full and unrestricted access to records that are under the person’s control, or whose production the person may, in an official capacity, reasonably require, being records to which the Ombudsman reasonably requires access for the purpose of exercising the Ombudsman’s audit functions in relation to the Interagency Plan. (2) Access to which the Ombudsman is entitled under this section includes the right to inspect and, on request, to be provided with copies of, any record referred to in subsection (1) and to inspect any non-documentary evidence associated with any such record.
(1) If a decision of a class prescribed for the purposes of this subsection is made by a relevant decision maker, the person or body that made the decision must:
(a) record the reasons for the decision, and (b) give a written copy of the reasons to each person considered by the decision-maker to have been directly affected by the decision.
(Section 51)