At a glance
| Item | Finding |
|---|---|
| Body | Office of the NSW Ombudsman |
| Type | Not a regulator. A complaint-handling and oversight body that can investigate and recommend but cannot order anything |
| Enabling law | Ombudsman Act 1974 (NSW), current version for 10 June 2026 to date. Further functions under the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993 and the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 |
| Report under review | Annual Report 2024-25 (tabled October 2025; the 2025-26 report had not been published at 11 October 2026) |
| Record examined | 25 annual reports, 2000-01 to 2024-25, the 50-year anniversary report (2025), two special reports, the review-of-decision policy, plus the external record |
| Money and staff, 2024-25 | Total expenses $57.039m; 250.1 full-time equivalent staff at 30 June 2025 (AR 2024-25 p 90; pp 65-66) |
| Proposed overall grade | D |
| Short reason | The Office's systemic investigations are strong and its funding problems were real and have been fixed. But on its own published figures it finalises about three in four complaints at assessment, sets no service targets, satisfies about one complainant in three, and does not publish what complainants get. Several measures that once showed this were dropped from its reports |
The grade follows the six criteria settled for Regulator Review on 11 October 2026. Section 10 sets out each criterion, its grade and the reasoning.
1. What the body is for
1.1 What the Act says
The Ombudsman Act 1974 has no objects clause for the Ombudsman's main jurisdiction. The long title is the only statement of purpose: "An Act to provide for the appointment of an Ombudsman; to define the functions of the Ombudsman; and for purposes connected therewith." The only objects clause in the Act, s 31K, is confined to Part 4B (protections for people who assist the Ombudsman). Purpose has to be taken from the functions.
Section 12(1) says: "Any person, including a public authority, may complain to the Ombudsman about the conduct of a public authority unless the conduct is of a class described in Schedule 1." "Conduct" means action or inaction "relating to a matter of administration" (s 5(1)). Schedule 1 excludes, among other things, the conduct of Ministers and of courts.
Investigation is a discretion, not a duty. Section 13(1) provides that where conduct "may be conduct referred to in section 26, the Ombudsman may, whether or not any person has complained to the Ombudsman about the conduct, make the conduct the subject of an investigation under this Act." The Ombudsman "may discontinue an investigation" (s 13(3)). In deciding whether to investigate a complaint, the Ombudsman "may have regard to such matters as he or she thinks fit" and, without limiting that, to six listed grounds, including that the subject matter is "trivial", that the conduct "occurred at too remote a time to justify investigation", and that "there is or was available to the complainant an alternative and satisfactory means of redress" (s 13(4)).
The Ombudsman can also make preliminary inquiries (s 13AA), attempt conciliation (s 13A), refer a complaint back to the agency for it to investigate (s 12A, inserted in 2022), make comments or suggestions to the agency (s 31AC) and review an agency's complaint-handling systems (s 25A).
1.2 What it can do
- It can require information and documents by written notice (s 18), hold inquiries with the powers of a Royal Commission (s 19), enter premises (s 20) and apply to the Supreme Court for an injunction (s 21C).
- After an investigation it reports where it finds conduct "contrary to law", "unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory", based on a mistake of law or fact, or "otherwise wrong" (s 26(1)). It "may recommend" a range of steps, including "that compensation be paid to any person" (s 26(2)(d1)).
- If it "is not satisfied that sufficient steps have been taken in due time in consequence of a report under section 26", it may report to Parliament, and the responsible Minister must make a statement in response within 12 sitting days (s 27).
- It may make a special report to Parliament "at any time" (s 31).
- It cannot make binding orders. The Office's website says: "While we can't force an agency or service provider to comply with our recommendations, most do" (ombo.nsw.gov.au, What we do with your complaint, read 11 October 2026). At a parliamentary hearing in May 2026 the Ombudsman said: "Ultimately the only sanction that the NSW Ombudsman has under the legislation is to publish a section 27 report, which is what we did", referring to his March 2026 report on inmate discipline (Joint Committee on the Ombudsman, the LECC and the Crime Commission, transcript of 8 May 2026, p 35).
1.3 Who holds it to account
On the text of the Act:
- The Ombudsman is appointed by the Governor on the Minister's recommendation for a term of up to seven years (s 6(1)-(2)). A proposed appointment must first be referred to the parliamentary Joint Committee, which may veto it (ss 6A, 31BA). Removal is by the Governor on the address of both Houses (s 6(5)).
- The Joint Committee on the Ombudsman, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and the Crime Commission is "to monitor and to review the exercise by the Ombudsman of the Ombudsman's functions", to examine each annual report and, since 2024, "to examine and report to both Houses of Parliament about the annual appropriation for the services of the Ombudsman" (s 31B(1)(a), (a1), (c)). The (a1) function was inserted in 2024.
- The Committee may not "reconsider a decision to investigate, not to investigate or to discontinue investigation of a particular complaint", or reconsider the Ombudsman's findings or recommendations in a particular matter (s 31B(2)(b), (d)).
- A complainant has no statutory right of review or appeal against a decision to decline or discontinue. The complainant is owed the decision and the reasons (s 15(1)) and, if the complaint is investigated, a report on the results (s 29(1)(b)). Apart from proceedings alleging bad faith, which need the Supreme Court's leave (s 35A), a complainant may apply to the Supreme Court only on a question "as to the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to conduct an investigation or proposed investigation" (s 35B).
- The Ombudsman and staff are immune from civil and criminal proceedings for anything done in executing the Act "unless the act, matter or thing was done, or omitted to be done, in bad faith", and proceedings need the leave of the Supreme Court (s 35A). In Kaldas v Barbour [2017] NSWCA 275 the Court of Appeal answered that the claims before it, which sought declarations and injunctions about a published Ombudsman report, "are wholly precluded by s 35A(1)". Bathurst CJ said the words "want of jurisdiction" "demonstrate an intention by the legislature to exclude public law remedies as well as personal remedies" (at [123]).
- The annual report must cover "the Ombudsman's work and activities for the preceding 12 months" (s 30(1)). Apart from the general annual-reporting requirements of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018, which s 30(2) applies with modifications, the Act prescribes no content for the main jurisdiction. Content is prescribed for some reports under the other Acts (for example Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 s 76).
- The Act contains no clause requiring it, or the Office, to be reviewed periodically. The two other Acts do (Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993 s 53; Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 s 89).
These are features of the statute, not choices made by the Office. They mean that almost everything the public can know about how the Office uses its discretion comes from what the Office chooses to publish.
1.4 What the Office says it is for
The Office's Strategic Plan 2025-30 states its purpose as "We pursue fairness for the people of NSW". Its website tells complainants that "we can only act if we think the conduct was unlawful or objectively unreasonable", that "Very few complaints we receive are formally investigated" and that "Most complaints are handled within 30 business days. Complex complaints and formal investigations usually take longer." It also says "Over 80% of complaints we receive are resolved" by giving information and advice (ombo.nsw.gov.au, What we do with your complaint, read 11 October 2026).
Its "Service delivery charter for complaint handling" lists commitments, including to "provide a timely and reliable service" and to "apologise if we get it wrong". It states no timeframe (ombo.nsw.gov.au, read 11 October 2026).
1.5 The job has changed
The Office's jurisdiction has changed more than most. Police complaints went to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission from 1 July 2017; employment-related child protection (reportable conduct) went to the Office of the Children's Guardian on 1 March 2020; disability functions wound down after the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission began in 2018; and freedom of information complaints went to the Information Commissioner in 2010. Community services came in on 1 December 2002 (AR 2002-03 p 14). The Office's 50-year report says "The dramatic drop from 2017 reflects the transfer of jurisdictions out of the Office (particularly the police, child protection and disability functions)" (50-year report p 35).
For that reason this report scores the Office mainly on the work that has been in its jurisdiction throughout: complaints about state government agencies, local councils and corrections, plus community services from 2002. Where an office-wide figure is used, it says so.
In 2024-25 the largest sources of complaints about state government were Corrective Services NSW (3,872 finalised, 33%), DCJ Housing (1,456) and Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network (951) (AR 2024-25 p 36, table 4).
2. The test
The core test is the gap between what the body is meant to do and what the record shows it does. For this body the test has three parts:
- Individuals: when a person complains about a NSW public authority, does the Office deal with the complaint promptly, and does it look into it?
- Systems: does the Office find and fix problems that affect many people?
- Candour: does the Office publish enough for the public to judge parts 1 and 2?
3. Individuals: the complaint service
3.1 What comes in, and what happens to it
| Year | Actionable complaints received | Finalised | Finalised at assessment only | Further investigatory action | Of which preliminary inquiries | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 13,674 | 13,739 | 11,021 (80%) | 2,718 (20%) | not published | AR 2019-20 pp 29, 33-34 |
| 2020-21 | 13,315 | 12,993 | 11,234 (86.5%) | 1,759 (13.5%) | 1,742 (13%) | AR 2020-21 pp 18, 21-22 |
| 2021-22 | 12,363 | 12,363 | 10,780 (87%) | 1,583 (13%) | 1,569 (13%) | AR 2021-22 pp 30, 32 |
| 2022-23 | 12,997 | 12,814 | 10,129 (79%) | 2,685 (21%) | 2,667 (21%) | AR 2022-23 pp 30, 36 |
| 2023-24 | 14,770 | 14,236 | 76% | 3,429 (24%) | 3,401 (24%) | AR 2023-24 pp 30, 36-38 |
| 2024-25 | 16,960 | 16,658 | 77% | 3,796 (23%) | 3,703 (22%) | AR 2024-25 pp 10, 32, 35, 39 |
Cautions on this table:
- "Actionable complaints" were introduced in 2019-20. They are complaints "that we are authorised by legislation to receive and, if necessary, to investigate" (AR 2019-20 p 28). Earlier reports counted "formal" (mostly written) complaints, then in 2018-19 a wider "complaints" category. The series cannot be joined to earlier years.
- Later reports restate some figures: actionable complaints received are restated as 12,378 for 2021-22, 13,035 for 2022-23 and 14,717 for 2023-24, and further action as 2,695 for 2022-23 and 3,422 for 2023-24 (AR 2022-23 p 30; AR 2023-24 p 30; AR 2024-25 p 10). The table shows figures as first published.
- In 2024-25 the Office defined "further investigatory action" as "Including preliminary inquiries, suggestions and comments, conciliation, referrals to agencies for investigation/resolution and formal investigations" (AR 2024-25 p 10). In 2022-23 the definition did not mention referrals (AR 2022-23 p 30). Neither report says the scope changed.
Two points stand out. First, about three in four actionable complaints are finalised at assessment. The Office says that "Many complaints are finalised at this stage, and without us making inquiries or otherwise engaging directly with the agency concerned" (AR 2024-25 p 34), and that the category "includes where we provided information/advice to allow the complainant to make their complaint to the agency and where we contacted the agency on the complainant's behalf" (AR 2024-25 p 35, note to fig 5). Second, the share given further action rose from 13% in 2021-22 to 23% in 2024-25. The Office describes this as having "more than doubled the number of complaints on which we took investigatory action (from 1,583 in 2021-22 to 3,429 in 2023-24)" (AR 2023-24 p 7). That increase is real and is credited in the assessment below.
Almost all further action is preliminary inquiries under s 13AA. In 2024-25, of 3,796 complaints given further action, 3,703 involved preliminary inquiries (AR 2024-25 pp 10, 39). The rest of the ladder that year was 84 suggestions in respect of 52 complaints, 18 conciliations, 10 referrals to agencies under s 12A, 15 formal investigations commenced and 9 finalised (AR 2024-25 pp 10, 39-40).
A further 1,524 complaints (9%) were finalised "by way of warm referral" to the agency complained about, which the Office counts as finalised at assessment (AR 2024-25 pp 35, 39).
3.2 The longer view: assessment-only closure
Before 2017-18 the annual reports carried an agency-by-agency "action taken" table for the general jurisdiction (departments and authorities, local government, corrections and, to 2010-11, FOI). On those tables the share of complaints finalised at assessment only was:
| Year | Assessment only, excluding the "outside jurisdiction" row | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 39.9% (calc: 1,082 / 2,713) | AR 2000-01 Appendices B-E, pp 159-169 |
| 2004-05 | 44.1% (calc: 1,329 / 3,014) | AR 2004-05 p 176, fig 64 |
| 2007-08 | 33.4% (calc) | AR 2007-08 p 200, fig 69 |
| 2010-11 | 47.3% (calc) | AR 2010-11 p 146, fig 70 |
| 2013-14 | 52.2% (calc) | AR 2013-14 p 146, fig 71 |
| 2016-17 | 57.3% (calc) | AR 2016-17 p 168, fig 63 |
The tables in some years include a row for complaints about bodies outside jurisdiction, all of which are closed at assessment; 2000-01 and 2004-05 have no such row. The figures above exclude that row in every year so that the years are comparable. Including it, the 2016-17 figure is 66.3%. The table was not published after 2016-17 (section 7.1).
The general-jurisdiction tables and the post-2019 "actionable complaints" are different bases, so the 2016-17 and 2024-25 shares cannot be compared directly. What can be said is that assessment-only closure in the general jurisdiction rose from about 40% to about 57% between 2000-01 and 2016-17, and has been between 76% and 87% of actionable complaints in each year since 2019-20 on the Office's current basis (87% of "complaints" in 2018-19).
The Office's own evidence to a Legislative Council committee in January 2020 gives a single series on one basis: "The proportion of formal complaints declined increased from 46 percent in 2009-10 to 61 percent in 2018-19" (NSW Ombudsman, supplementary submission and answers to questions on notice, Public Accountability Committee, 28 January 2020, p 10). The then Ombudsman told the committee: "we find increasingly we are just declining complaints off the bat. The percentage of complaints that are declined has steadily climbed in the past five years" (quoted in the same document, p 10). This series does not appear in the annual reports.
3.3 Formal investigations
| Period | Formal investigations finalised (office-wide) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 to 2005-06 | 25, 62, 54, 42, 67, 66 | AR 2004-05 p 15 fig 6; AR 2005-06 p 10 fig 4 |
| 2006-07 to 2010-11 | 63 (first printed as 56), 47, 44, 26, 35 | AR 2007-08 p 11; AR 2008-09 p 21; AR 2009-10 p 8; AR 2010-11 p 10 |
| 2011-12 to 2015-16 | 22, 22, 14, 11, 13 | AR 2011-12 p 12; AR 2012-13 p 12; AR 2013-14 p 11; AR 2014-15 p 7; AR 2015-16 p 9 |
| 2016-17 | 5 (not in AR 2016-17; published in AR 2017-18) | AR 2017-18 p 6 table 6 |
| 2017-18 to 2021-22 | 8, 8, 5, 4, 5 | AR 2017-18 p 6; AR 2018-19 p 44; AR 2019-20 p 55; AR 2020-21 p 30; AR 2021-22 p 33 |
| 2022-23 to 2024-25 | 6, 8, 9 | AR 2022-23 p 40; AR 2023-24 p 38; AR 2024-25 p 40 |
Cautions: until 2017 the office-wide series included direct investigations of police complaints and child protection matters, which later left the Office. In 2001-02, for example, the 62 comprised 33 formal investigations in the general jurisdiction plus 22 police complaints and 7 child abuse notifications investigated directly (AR 2001-02 p 13; calc: 33 + 22 + 7). The direction of change is clear from the Office's own figures. Because the jurisdiction narrowed, the size of the fall cannot be stated exactly. A like-for-like comparison is closer to 33 general-jurisdiction formal investigations in 2001-02 against 9 office-wide in 2024-25. For 2018-19 the figure of 8 is investigations closed: "Six were finalised and two were discontinued" (AR 2018-19 p 44); other years count discontinued investigations among those finalised. The Office's January 2020 evidence to a Legislative Council committee gave different annual counts of investigations finalised (for example 21 in 2010-11 and 2 in 2016-17), without reconciling them to the annual reports (supplementary submission, 28 January 2020, p 4).
The recent trend is upward. Formal investigations commenced were 1 in 2021-22, 10 in 2022-23, 10 in 2023-24 and 15 in 2024-25, with 17 in progress at 30 June 2025 (AR 2021-22 p 33; AR 2022-23 p 7; AR 2023-24 p 7; AR 2024-25 pp 10, 40). In May 2026 the Ombudsman told the Joint Committee: "Since our last appearance before the Committee, we have finalised seven formal maladministration investigations, and we currently have 14 investigations on foot" (transcript of 8 May 2026, p 30).
No annual report gives the number of formal investigations that arose from an individual complaint as distinct from the Office's own motion.
3.4 Findings against agencies
The general-jurisdiction "action taken" tables included a column headed "Adverse finding". It counts complaints, not investigations.
| Year | "Adverse finding" (general jurisdiction, per complaint) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | 20 ("We conducted 33 formal investigations into complaints in our general jurisdiction and made adverse findings in 20 of them") | AR 2001-02 p 13 |
| 2002-03 to 2008-09 | 8, 6, 9, 12, 9, 9, 9 | Appendix summary tables, AR 2002-03 p 169 to AR 2008-09 p 143 |
| 2009-10 to 2012-13 | 4, 3, 3, 7 (see caution) | AR 2009-10 Pt2 p 146; AR 2010-11 p 146; AR 2011-12 pp 139, 141; AR 2012-13 pp 147, 149 |
| 2013-14 | 11, of which 10 were complaints combined into one investigation (see caution) | AR 2013-14 p 146 fig 71; p 11 fig 2 |
| 2014-15 to 2016-17 | 0, 0, 0 | AR 2014-15 pp 159, 161; AR 2015-16 p 170; AR 2016-17 p 168 |
| 2017-18 to 2021-22 | not published | |
| 2022-23 to 2024-25 | Investigations finalised with findings of wrong conduct: 4 of 6, 8 of 8, 8 of 9 (office-wide, per investigation) | AR 2022-23 p 40; AR 2023-24 p 38; AR 2024-25 p 40 |
Cautions: the keys printed under the 2013-14 table and one of the 2012-13 tables are mislettered, so the readings of 11 (2013-14) and 7 (2012-13) depend on applying the column order used in other years; read with the keys as printed, 2012-13 gives 5. The 2013-14 report's text does not say that adverse findings were made. The 2022-23 to 2024-25 counts are office-wide and per investigation, so they are not the same measure as the earlier column.
What can be said: the column recorded no adverse findings in the general jurisdiction in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17; the table was then withdrawn; and no count of findings was published for 2017-18 to 2021-22. Counts resumed in 2022-23.
3.5 What complainants get
The annual reports from 2018-19 to 2024-25 publish no count or rate of remedies, apologies, compensation, refunds or changed decisions obtained for complainants. Outcomes appear as case studies and in general words: "our inquiries prompt agencies to take action to resolve the complaint (for example, by reviewing a decision, providing an apology or undertaking some other corrective action)" (AR 2024-25 p 39).
The only recent outcome rate found was given to Parliament, not printed in a report. In May 2026 the Ombudsman told the Joint Committee: "In the eight months from July 2025 to the end of February 2026, we have taken such further investigatory action in respect of 2,120 actionable complaints. Of those, around 26 per cent have subsequently resulted in the agency taking some form of corrective or remedial action" (transcript of 8 May 2026, p 30). That is about 550 complaints (calc: 26% of 2,120). The figure shows the Office can measure outcomes. It does not cover complaints closed at assessment.
The last annual report outcome measure was in 2017-18: "Matters where inquiries have resulted in an improved outcome for the individual or the community", 64.28% across all divisions, with no count or base given (AR 2017-18 p 7, table 12). Earlier, the general team reported "Complaints resolved by providing advice or through constructive action by the public sector agency" against a 65% target (for example 65% in 2008-09 and 69% in 2010-11; AR 2008-09 p 86; AR 2010-11 Pt2 p 31).
The Office has recommended compensation throughout the period. For example, in 2024-25 it "recommended that DCJ pay an appropriate amount of compensation to the authorised carers" (AR 2024-25 p 41). Some earlier reports counted complaints in which an agency "gave monetary compensation" (for example 11 in AR 2005-06 p 11, fig 6). No annual report counts how often the Office recommended compensation or states a total amount recommended or paid.
3.6 Timeliness and service targets
The Office has published no complaint-handling target since 2017-18.
- 2017-18 was the last year with benchmarks: initial assessment and acknowledgement within 10 days, "benchmark 80%", result 93.54%; complaints finalised within 12 months, "benchmark 95%", result 97.35% (AR 2017-18 p 7, tables 7 and 9). Three divisions missed the 12-month benchmark.
- 2018-19 to 2021-22: no performance indicator table and no target in any report. The 2018-19 report says senior officers meet quarterly "to review how our organisation is performing against agreed targets" (AR 2018-19 p 84). The targets are not published. No report gives a reason for dropping the 2017-18 indicators.
- 2022-23: "This year we developed a draft suite of key performance indicators (KPIs)" (AR 2022-23 p 51).
- 2023-24: "This year we finalised a suite of key performance indicators (KPIs)… We will also use our results to establish targets to report future performance against" (AR 2023-24 p 54).
- 2024-25: indicators reported with prior-year comparisons and no targets (AR 2024-25 pp 58-62). The indicators measure the percentage of contacts acknowledged and assessed "within target timeframes" and complaints finalised "within target timeframes" (NSW Ombudsman outcomes and key performance indicators, read 11 October 2026). The reports measure these against 10 days and 12 months, but set no target for the percentage to be achieved.
Earlier periods did have targets. From 2000-01 to 2010-11 the general team reported against a target of 90% of complaints assessed within 48 hours (or two working days) and an average of 7 weeks (7.1 weeks to 2002-03) to finalise. It met them in most years and missed them in 2000-01 (85% and 9.5 weeks) and 2002-03 (89.35%) (AR 2000-01 p 60; AR 2002-03 p 28; AR 2008-09 p 86). Office-wide targets were printed in 2011-12, results without targets in 2012-13 to 2014-15, and no timeliness results in 2015-16 or 2016-17.
What is published now is a distribution of time to finalise:
| Year | Within 1 week | 8 to 30 days | Longer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 73% | 15% | 12% (1 month or more) | AR 2018-19 p 17 |
| 2020-21 | 63% | 19% | 18% (1 month or more) | AR 2020-21 p 22 |
| 2022-23 | 62% | 18% | 13% (1-3 months); 7% (more than 3 months) | AR 2022-23 p 37 |
| 2023-24 | 56% | 23% | 14% (1-3 months); 7% (more than 3 months) | AR 2023-24 p 38 |
| 2024-25 | 43% | 21% | 25% (1-3 months); 11% (more than 3 months) | AR 2024-25 p 35 |
The bases differ (2018-19 "complaints"; later years actionable complaints). In 2024-25, 64% of actionable complaints were finalised within 30 days (calc: 43% + 21%), 89% within 90 days and more than 99% within 12 months; 77% of contacts were "acknowledged and given initial assessment within 10 days", down from 86% (AR 2024-25 pp 35, 59). The 10-day figure "include[s] actionable complaints, excluded complaints and misdirected contacts" (AR 2024-25 p 59 note).
In Regulator Review's view, some of the slower finalisation is likely to reflect more complaints being given further action, which takes longer. Every published timeliness measure nonetheless moved in the wrong direction in 2024-25.
3.7 What complainants say
Complainant satisfaction was not published from 2017-18 to 2021-22, apart from a 2018-19 survey of 83 complainants about referrals (AR 2018-19 p 17). Results resumed in 2022-23. No target has been set.
| Measure (complainants who made an actionable complaint) | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfied with the level of service received | 34% (940 respondents) | 36% (1,219) | 33% (602) |
| Questions and complaints "resolved effectively" | not asked in this form | 24% (595) | 22% (595) |
| Outcome perceived as fair | 24% ("valuable and fair") | 23% | 22% (602) |
| Agreed "we treated them fairly" | 45% | 47% | 42% (585) |
| Would contact the Office again | 54% | 58% | 53% (602) |
| Source | AR 2022-23 pp 52-53 | AR 2023-24 pp 54-57 | AR 2024-25 pp 58-59 |
The question wording changed between 2022-23 and 2023-24 (for example "valuable" became "resolved effectively"), so those two years are not fully comparable.
Agencies rate the Office more highly than complainants do: 80% of responding public authorities and service providers agreed "that our complaint-handling processes are impartial and fair" in 2024-25 (138 respondents) (AR 2024-25 p 59).
The Office's website says: "We survey people who bring complaints to our office once they are finalised" (Service delivery charter, read 11 October 2026).
3.8 The backlog
No annual report from 2017-18 to 2024-25 publishes the number of actionable complaints open at year end, the number of aged complaints or the oldest open matter. The 2024-25 report gives part of the picture: its contact total "includes 355 contacts that were pending assessment as of 30 June 2025" (AR 2024-25 p 32), and it reports 17 investigations and 5 reviews still open (p 40). The reports say the Office uses its case management data "to monitor and identify where there may be backlogs, delays or issues" (AR 2017-18 p 24; AR 2018-19 p 84; AR 2019-20 p 85), but publish no result.
The Ombudsman's evidence to the Joint Committee on 8 May 2026 gave no backlog figures, and none was found in the committee reports read (Reports 1/58 and 3/58) or in the answers to questions on notice read. This is a search result: Legislative Council budget estimates transcripts for 2024 to 2026 were not read.
3.9 Review of the Office's own decisions
The Office's policy allows one internal review. "A decision made under 7 above will be final. No complainant will be permitted to seek another review in relation to a complaint that has already been reviewed. No further reviews or appeals will be considered" (Review of Ombudsman decisions about complaints, version 5A, 30 October 2025, p 2). The policy also says: "The Ombudsman cannot be required to investigate, make inquiries into or take any other action about a section 12 complaint, and cannot be required to review a decision to take (or not take) any action" (p 1). Findings and recommendations in s 26 reports and anything in a s 31 special report are not reviewable (p 1).
| Year | Review requests | Outcome | Within 3 months | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 308 (4.2% of complaints finalised), including 64 about police complaints | 275 affirmed, 19 reopened, 13 resolved | AR 2003-04 pp 18-19 | |
| 2010-11 | 246 (3.0%) | 219 affirmed, 19 reopened, 7 resolved | AR 2010-11 p 11 | |
| 2016-17 | 127 (1.2%) | 117 affirmed, 7 reopened, 3 resolved | AR 2016-17 pp 24-25 | |
| 2020-21 | 20 accepted | 14 affirmed, 2 reopened | 80% | AR 2020-21 p 25 |
| 2021-22 | 26 accepted | 14 affirmed, 5 reopened | 54% | AR 2021-22 p 35 |
| 2022-23 | 35 accepted | 25 affirmed (3 of them after reopening), 1 withdrawn, 9 open | "over 69%" | AR 2022-23 p 39 |
| 2023-24 | 20 accepted | 12 affirmed, 2 reopened | 25% | AR 2023-24 p 38 |
| 2024-25 | 16 received | 5 affirmed, 6 reopened | 36% (91% within 12 months) | AR 2024-25 p 40 |
From 2020-21 to 2023-24 the reports count requests "accepted", so requests declined at intake are not counted; 2024-25 counts requests "received". The number of requests declined is not published in any year.
The Office's stated aim is to "finalise reviews within 3 months of receipt" (AR 2022-23 p 39). In 2021-22 it said "only 54% of reviews were completed within this timeframe, primarily due to resource constraints and the prioritisation of resources toward handling original complaints" (AR 2021-22 p 35). The aim was missed in each year from 2021-22 to 2024-25.
The number of review requests fell from 308 in 2003-04 to 16 in 2024-25 while the volume of complaints rose. Part of the fall reflects functions that left the Office: the 2003-04 figure includes 64 requests about police complaints (AR 2003-04 p 18). The reports give no reason for the rest.
The Office also reports complaints about its own service, with the number substantiated: for example 15 complaints in 2024-25, 2 substantiated (AR 2024-25 p 75).
3.10 Independent assessment
No performance audit of the Office's complaint handling by the Auditor-General was found. The Audit Office's 2020 audit of financial arrangements in four integrity agencies concluded: "NSWO's management practices are suitable for its needs." It also found: "NSWO's case management system gives it some information on the timeliness of complaint resolution and staff utilisation but it does not allow it to track the costs of its major investigations and projects" (Audit Office of NSW, The effectiveness of the financial arrangements and management practices in four integrity agencies, 20 October 2020, executive summary and s 4.3).
The Joint Committee's last two reviews of the Office's annual reports made no finding or recommendation about the Office's complaint handling (Report 1/58, August 2024; Report 3/58, October 2025). Report 3/58 noted the rise in complaints given investigatory action and said: "We were pleased to hear this and will continue to monitor the Ombudsman's complaint handling in future reporting periods" (para 2.124).
4. Systems: investigations that affect many people
This is where the Office is strongest.
- In 2024-25 the Office tabled seven special reports, including investigations into inmate discipline and the treatment of bystander inmates at Clarence Correctional Centre, a review of DCJ's complaint system for Aboriginal child protection, and an assessment of whether DCJ is protecting children at risk (AR 2024-25 p 44). The count includes two six-monthly casebooks and pairs some reports with community summaries.
- From 2020-21 the Office has published summaries of all formal investigations completed each year (AR 2020-21 p 30), and since 2024 it has published six-monthly casebooks. The 50-year report describes the casebooks as "presenting the details and findings of every investigation completed by the Office, where previously investigation reports only went to the relevant agency and its Minister" (50-year report p 21).
- Of the 55 recommendations it made in 2024-25, "98% (51 of 52) of those responded to were accepted" (AR 2024-25 p 61). Of 84 suggestions under s 31AC, 74 were fully accepted, 7 partially and 3 not accepted (AR 2024-25 p 40).
- Individual investigations produce concrete results. Following the inmate discipline investigation, "2,845 orders to inmates to compensate CSNSW for damaged property have been reviewed and so far $92,000 has been reimbursed" (AR 2024-25 p 42).
- It has reported on the use of machine technology in government decision-making (2021) and mapped automated decision-making across the NSW public sector (2024) (AR 2021-22 p 50; AR 2023-24 p 40).
4.1 Revenue NSW garnishee orders
The Office's April 2024 special report records both the strength and the limits of its approach.
- By mid-2014 the Ombudsman "had already made several formal suggestions that Revenue NSW change its policy and practices". "These suggestions were not implemented in 2014 or 2015 … In the meantime, complaints to the Ombudsman continued, peaking in 2016" (Revenue NSW: the lawfulness of its garnishee order process, special report, 30 April 2024, paras 61-62).
- "in March 2016 the then NSW Ombudsman commenced a formal investigation" (para 65). On 19 December 2018 the Office formally suggested that Revenue NSW "Seek external legal advice about Revenue's authority to automate the issuing of GOs [garnishee orders]" (para 69).
- "In May 2019, the then Ombudsman formally discontinued the investigation." At that point "Revenue NSW had not indicated that it would implement the suggestion that it obtain legal advice", but complaints had fallen and most other suggestions had been agreed or implemented (para 70). The then Ombudsman said he was "satisfied by the actions taken and undertakings given" (para 71).
- In the 2024 report the Office found that "Revenue NSW's conduct in operating the GO system to recover fines debts from January 2016 to March 2019 was contrary to law within the meaning of s 26 of the Ombudsman Act, as it did not comply with the Fines Act", and that its conduct from March 2019 to March 2022 was "wrong" (findings summary and para 152).
The report also states that the Office made "no formal finding" that Revenue NSW's failure to seek legal advice at the time was unreasonable, "given the different circumstances and level of awareness concerning these issues at the time" (para 185). The NSW Government said Revenue NSW had "committed to implementing his recommendations in full" (NSW Government media release, 30 April 2024).
The first investigation's focus was "the impact of garnishee orders on people whose accounts were garnished" (para 66); the question of legal authority arose through the December 2018 suggestion.
Regulator Review's assessment: the eventual finding of unlawfulness is a substantial piece of work, and the current Office deserves credit for it. The same report records that the Office had the garnishee system under formal investigation from March 2016 to May 2019, discontinued that investigation without the legal advice it had asked Revenue NSW to obtain, and found in 2024 that the system had operated contrary to law from January 2016 to March 2019.
4.2 Earlier years
The systemic record has not been even. The annual reports list no special report to Parliament in 2007-08 or 2014-15 (AR 2007-08 p 219; AR 2014-15 p 188), and the 2019-20 report names one, the OCHRE review (AR 2019-20 p 5). The Office's January 2020 evidence said "this rate is declining" of formal investigations: an average of 14.8 a year in the first five years of the decade to 2018-19 and 7.8 in the second five (supplementary submission, 28 January 2020, p 4). It also said it had conducted "only one audit of one State government agency" under the Public Interest Disclosures Act in 2018-19 (p 6).
5. Willingness to use powers
5.1 Escalation
Section 27 lets the Office take an agency's failure to act on a s 26 report to Parliament. The annual reports from 2000-01 to 2024-25 record one such report, in 2021-22: "We made 1 follow-up report to Parliament under s 27 of the Ombudsman Act because we were not satisfied that sufficient steps had been taken in response to our s 26 report: Strip Searches Conducted After an Incident at Frank Baxter Youth Justice Centre." The Minister responded on 11 August 2022, "noting that the government rejects the recommendations made in our report" (AR 2021-22 p 38). This is a search result across all 25 reports (search terms "section 27", "s 27", "s.27", "sufficient steps" and related phrases), not proof that no other s 27 report was made in those years.
A second s 27 report followed after the period of the latest annual report. On 2 March 2026 the Office announced that its report "'The progress of NSW's inmate discipline system reform' report has been published under section 27 of the Ombudsman Act 1974" (NSW Ombudsman, media release, 2 March 2026). The Ombudsman discussed it with the Joint Committee on 8 May 2026 (transcript pp 32-35). Both s 27 reports have been made by the current Ombudsman, both concern custodial settings, and both came in the last five years.
5.2 Resources and the Office's explanation
For more than a decade the Office said it could not investigate as much as it should because of funding:
- "This has meant that in some areas of our work we have not been able to conduct as many investigations as we have in the past" (AR 2009-10, Ombudsman's message, p 3).
- "the NSW Ombudsman has repeatedly made clear to the NSW Government that our current funding allocation is insufficient to deliver our required statutory obligations" (AR 2019-20 p 4).
- "the conferral of new functions without new funding is tantamount to a budget cut across the Ombudsman's office" (AR 2020-21 p vii). "In 2020-21, our expenses ($25.785 million) were the lowest they had been since 2010-11 in nominal terms" (AR 2020-21 p 81).
- "In the context of constrained resources, it is likely the Ombudsman is not investigating all matters that warrant further scrutiny" (AR 2021-22 p 21, letter of 31 May 2022 to Ministers).
- "However, currently we rarely undertake formal conciliations because we do not have the funding to do so" (AR 2020-21 p 22).
These statements were made at the time, and independent bodies agreed that the funding process was a problem. The Audit Office found in 2020 that "The current approach to determining annual funding for the integrity agencies presents threats to their independent status" (executive summary). A Legislative Council committee concluded in 2021 that "The current funding arrangements cannot be allowed to continue" (Public Accountability Committee, Report 7, February 2021, para 2.78).
The position changed from 2022-23. The 2022-23 budget included "an increase in base funding for some existing statutory functions that had been critically under-resourced and were not otherwise able to be performed to a minimum adequate standard, or at all" (AR 2021-22 p 17). Integrity agencies are "excluded from efficiency dividends" (AR 2022-23 p 18). Since 2024 the Joint Committee examines the Office's appropriation (Ombudsman Act s 31B(1)(a1)). In May 2026 the Ombudsman said "over the past three years since our office's budget was re-baselined, our core funding has remained effectively stable" and that "our focus in these recent years has been on maximising the efficiency and value from this funding envelope rather than pursuing any additional funding" (transcript of 8 May 2026, p 31).
The funding explanation is credible for the years to 2021-22. It does not explain the 2024-25 results on timeliness, satisfaction and the absence of targets, which came after the increase.
6. Money
| Year | Total expenses | Staff (FTE at 30 June) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | $9.644m | 117.2 | AR 2000-01 pp 128, 144 |
| 2004-05 | $19.121m | 166.55 | AR 2004-05 pp 17, 161 |
| 2010-11 | $24.297m | 185.19 | AR 2010-11 pp 23, 119 |
| 2015-16 | $34.400m | 214.66 | AR 2015-16 pp 34, 144 |
| 2020-21 | $25.785m | 121.97 (later restated 118.8) | AR 2020-21 pp 64, 76; AR 2021-22 p 111 |
| 2022-23 | $37.949m | 201.7 | AR 2022-23 pp 55, 72 |
| 2024-25 | $57.039m | 250.1 | AR 2024-25 pp 65-66, 90 |
Expenses more than doubled between 2020-21 and 2024-25 in nominal terms (calc: 57.039 / 25.785 = 2.2), and staff numbers roughly doubled. The appropriation for 2026-27 is $56,548,163 (Treasurer's letter to the Joint Committee, 2026). Expenditure on complaint handling as distinct from the Office's other functions was last published for 2009-10, as the "Complaint advice, referral, resolution or investigation" service group ($9.447m), after which the Office reported a single service group (AR 2009-10 Pt2 p 114). The cost per actionable complaint finalised in 2024-25 was about $3,424 (calc: $57.039m / 16,658), before allowing for the Office's other functions.
7. Candour: what the Office publishes
7.1 What stopped being published
| Item | Last published | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Agency-by-agency "action taken" tables, including the "Adverse finding" column | 2016-17 | AR 2016-17 pp 168-177 |
| Office-wide count of formal investigations finalised | Absent from AR 2016-17 (the 2016-17 figure appears only in AR 2017-18) | AR 2017-18 p 6 |
| Complaint-handling indicators with benchmarks (timeliness, improved outcomes) | 2017-18 | AR 2017-18 pp 6-7 |
| Office-wide timeliness results | Absent from AR 2015-16 and AR 2016-17 | AR 2015-16; AR 2016-17 |
| Outcome rate for complainants ("resolved … through constructive action", target 65%, to at least 2010-11; "improved outcome", 2017-18) | 2017-18 | AR 2010-11 Pt2 p 31; AR 2017-18 p 7 |
| Counts of complaints where the agency gave monetary compensation (general team) | 2005-06 | AR 2005-06 p 11 |
| Complaints received and closed in the same year, and carry-over | 2019-20 | AR 2019-20 p 33 |
| Complainant satisfaction | Absent 2017-18 to 2021-22 (except a 2018-19 referral survey); restored 2022-23 | AR 2022-23 p 51 |
| Expenditure by program or service group, including complaint handling | 2009-10 | AR 2009-10 Pt2 p 114 |
On the action-taken tables the 2017-18 report said: "This year, we have not included these detailed statistics but have published them on our website" (AR 2017-18 p 4). Whether the website still carries them was not checked. On expenditure by service group, the 2009-10 report said that "Following a review of our service groups by NSW Treasury, the Ombudsman will only be reporting on one service group" (AR 2009-10 Pt2 p 114). No reason was found for the other items.
The Office deserves credit for restoring satisfaction results in 2022-23 and publishing poor results plainly, for counting investigations with findings of wrong conduct from 2022-23, and for the casebooks.
7.2 Changed definitions and restated figures
- The headline count of complaints was redefined in 2018-19 ("we have changed the way we classify contacts to our office. Previously, we reported on informal complaints and formal complaints", AR 2018-19 p 12 fn 1) and again in 2019-20 with "actionable complaints" (AR 2019-20 p 29 fn 1).
- From 2022-23 "contacts received" include "matters where we opened a complaint file using own motion powers" (AR 2022-23 p 33 fn 11).
- Total contacts were restated in later reports for 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. The 2021-22 total appears as 24,874, 24,899 and 24,901 in three reports (AR 2021-22 p 30; AR 2022-23 p 30; AR 2023-24 p 33). The only explanation given is general: "Due to enhanced data quality assurance processes, there may be minor differences in prior year contact numbers compared to previously reported data" (AR 2020-21 p 16).
- Review-of-decision counts switched from requests "received" to requests "accepted" in 2020-21 and back to "received" in 2024-25 (section 3.9).
7.3 Errors and inconsistencies in the reports
- "Contacts received in jurisdiction were incorrectly presented in last year's annual report. This has been corrected in the figure above" (AR 2023-24 p 33, correction notice).
- The 2023-24 report says "We ran 2 conciliations in the reporting period" (p 37). The 2024-25 report refers to "the 1 formal conciliation conducted in 2023-24" (p 10).
- The 2020-21 report gives "39 suggestions made in respect of 12 actionable complaints" (p 21) and elsewhere comments or suggestions "in respect of 27 complaints" (pp 13, 30).
- The 2019-20 report was published with a placeholder: "The Auditor-General's findings included: [TBC]" (AR 2019-20 p 20).
- The 2002-03 snapshot lists "Reports making adverse findings in 2002 – 2003 486" (AR 2002-03 p 7). The figure matches the count of police management outcomes following investigation of complaints in the same year (AR 2002-03 p 65), not Ombudsman reports.
- The 2002-03 appendix total is printed as 3,142; the rows and columns sum to 3,124 (calc) (AR 2002-03 p 169).
These are recorded as printed. None changes the findings above. They bear on how much reliance can be placed on headline figures without checking the detail.
8. Media releases
The Office's media-release listing was read in full: 43 releases dated 25 July 2018 to 14 September 2026, of which 41 are dated 2022 to 2026. Most concern investigation findings, special reports, casebooks, the Public Interest Disclosures Act and child death reviews. The releases on the 2023-24 and 2024-25 annual reports (posted 31 October 2024 and 30 October 2025) report the Office's volume figures: contacts, actionable complaints and complaints given further investigatory action. Casebook releases give complaint counts. None concerns the Office's timeliness, satisfaction results, open complaints or funding.
The Office communicates readily about what agencies have done wrong and reports its own volume figures. It does not use its releases to report its own service results.
9. Comparison with the Commonwealth Ombudsman
Regulator Review's proposed grade for the Commonwealth Ombudsman, drafted on 11 October 2026, is D. Where the two can be compared like for like:
| Point | NSW Ombudsman | Commonwealth Ombudsman |
|---|---|---|
| Duty to investigate | None: the Ombudsman "may" investigate (s 13(1)) | "shall investigate" complaints, subject to a wide discretion not to (Ombudsman Act 1976 s 5(1)(a), s 6) |
| Parliamentary committee | Yes, with a veto over appointment and, since 2024, a role on the budget; barred from reviewing decisions on particular complaints (s 31B(2)) | None |
| Complainant right of review | None in the Act; one internal review by policy | None in the Act; internal reconsideration and one discretionary review by policy |
| Prescribed annual report content for the main jurisdiction | None beyond "work and activities" | None |
| Published complaint-handling targets, 2024-25 | None | Yes; 7 of 14 met |
| Complainants satisfied with service, 2024-25 | 33% (no target) | 36% (target 65%) |
| Open complaints and backlog | Not published; none found elsewhere | Not in the annual report; disclosed at Senate estimates |
| Escalation for failure to act | One s 27 report to Parliament recorded in 25 annual reports (2021-22), and a second in March 2026 | One s 16 report to the Prime Minister recorded in 24 annual reports (2004-05) |
| Total expenses and staff, 2024-25 | $57.039m; 250.1 FTE | $51.809m; average staffing level 291 |
Investigation rates are not compared. The NSW "formal investigation" is a full investigation under s 13, with 9 finalised in 2024-25; the Commonwealth counts "formal investigations" in which it uses its powers to obtain information, with 185 in 2024-25. NSW preliminary inquiries (3,703 complaints in 2024-25) have no published Commonwealth equivalent. Timeliness figures are not compared because the Commonwealth counts working days and the NSW reports do not say whether their days are calendar or business days.
On the comparable points, the two offices share the same pattern: strong systemic work, about one complainant in three satisfied, and little published about what complainants get. The NSW Office has a parliamentary committee and the Commonwealth does not; the Commonwealth Office publishes targets and the NSW Office does not.
Comparator annual reports for the Victorian, Queensland, Western Australian and South Australian ombudsmen and the UK Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman are held in the project's sources but were not used in this review.
10. Assessment and proposed grade
Findings of fact are in sections 1 to 9. This section is Regulator Review's assessment.
Scale used: A excellent; B good; C adequate; D poor; E failing; F not performing the function.
| Criterion | Grade | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Doing the core job: dealing with complaints about NSW public authorities | D | About three in four actionable complaints are closed at assessment and 9 formal investigations were finalised in 2024-25. The share given further action has risen from 13% to 23% since 2021-22, which keeps this above E. What complainants get is not published |
| 2. Service to the people it is there for | D | No complaint-handling target since 2017-18, despite a 2023-24 undertaking to set them; 33% satisfied with service and 22% saying their complaint was resolved effectively in 2024-25; every published timeliness measure worse in 2024-25; review-of-decision aim missed four years running. Finalisation within 90 days (89%) and 12 months (over 99%) remains high |
| 3. Willingness to use its powers | D | Formal investigations fell from dozens a year to single figures; no general-jurisdiction adverse findings recorded 2014-15 to 2016-17; the Revenue NSW investigation was discontinued in 2019 without the legal advice the Office had sought. In its favour: investigations commenced have risen since 2021-22 (1, 10, 10, 15), and the current Ombudsman has made both of the s 27 reports found since 2000 (2022 and 2026). The trend is towards C |
| 4. Systemic impact | B | Recent special reports on corrections, child protection, automated decision-making and Revenue NSW found unlawful or wrong conduct and led to change; recommendation acceptance 98% of those responded to in 2024-25; casebooks publish every investigation. Earlier years were thinner |
| 5. Transparency about itself | D | Outcome tables, indicators with benchmarks and an outcome rate were dropped; no count of open actionable complaints in any recent report; repeated restatements without specific explanation; KPIs with no targets; an outcome rate disclosed only to a committee. Partly offset by the return of satisfaction results and findings counts |
| 6. Accountability | C | A parliamentary committee with real powers over appointment and budget, which the Commonwealth lacks; complaints about the Office reported with outcomes; acknowledged a Disability Royal Commission finding and apologised (AR 2021-22 p 22). Against that, review is one internal step and then "final", and review requests are few. The bar on the committee reviewing individual decisions (s 31B(2)) and the immunity in s 35A are features of the Act, not the Office |
Proposed overall grade: D.
Reasoning. The Office does two jobs. Its systemic work is good and, since 2022, better resourced and more visible. Its individual complaint service, which is the first function the Act describes, is where the record is weakest: most complaints are closed at assessment, one complainant in three is satisfied, no service targets are set, and the Office does not publish what complainants get, although it told Parliament in 2026 that it can measure it. The Office's long-standing funding explanation was real and was accepted by the Auditor-General and a parliamentary committee, and it partly excuses the record to 2021-22. It does not explain the record since the funding was restored. The grade is held at D rather than C because the problems persist after the funding increase and because the measures that would let the public test the Office's account were dropped and have not been fully restored.
What would change the grade: published service targets, met for two consecutive years; publication in the annual report of outcome rates for all complaints, including those closed at assessment; open and aged complaint counts at year end; satisfaction results improving from one in three; and restoration of a consistent count of investigations and findings by sector.
11. What is not known
- The 2025-26 annual report had not been published at 11 October 2026.
- How many actionable complaints are open, how old they are, and the oldest open matter.
- What happens to complaints closed at assessment, and what proportion of complaints overall lead to a remedy.
- How many formal investigations arise from individual complaints rather than the Office's own motion.
- How many requests for review are declined at intake.
- Resources allocated to complaint handling as distinct from the Office's other functions.
- Whether the detailed statistics the 2017-18 report said were "published on our website" remain available, and for which years.
- Legislative Council budget estimates transcripts for 2024 to 2026 and the Joint Committee's 2022 report (Report 3/57) were not read. The Committee's report on the 2025 review had not been published at 11 October 2026.
- A search of NSW case law for judicial review of a decision not to investigate could not be completed (AustLII search blocked twice; NSW Caselaw not readable). No such case is relied on. Cases cited in Kaldas that may bear on it, not yet read: Boyd v The Ombudsman [1981] 2 NSWLR 308; Moroney v The Ombudsman [1982] 2 NSWLR 591; Botany Council v The Ombudsman (1995) 37 NSWLR 357; The Ombudsman v Koopman (2003) 58 NSWLR 182; The Ombudsman v Laughton (2005) 64 NSWLR 114.
12. Sources
- NSW Ombudsman, Annual Reports 2000-01 to 2024-25.csv. https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/reports/office-annual-reports
- NSW Ombudsman, 50 years pursuing fairness for NSW 1975-2025 (2025).
- NSW Ombudsman, Revenue NSW: the lawfulness of its garnishee order process, special report under s 31, 30 April 2024.
- NSW Ombudsman, Review of Ombudsman decisions about complaints (request for review of decision policy), version 5A, 30 October 2025.
- Ombudsman Act 1974 (NSW), current version for 10 June 2026. https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1974-068
- Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993 (NSW) and Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (NSW), versions of 10 June 2026.
- Kaldas v Barbour [2017] NSWCA 275. https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWCA/2017/275.html
- Joint Committee on the Ombudsman, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and the Crime Commission, Report 1/58, 2023 review of annual and other reports of oversighted agencies, August 2024; Report 3/58, 2024 review of annual and other reports of oversighted agencies, October 2025; transcript of evidence, 2025 review, 8 May 2026. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees
- Legislative Council Public Accountability Committee, Budget process for independent oversight bodies and the Parliament of New South Wales, Report 7 (final report), February 2021; NSW Ombudsman, supplementary submission including responses to questions on notice, 28 January 2020. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees
- NSW Treasurer, letter to the Chair of the Joint Committee on 2026-27 appropriations (ref BN2602170). https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees
- Audit Office of NSW, The effectiveness of the financial arrangements and management practices in four integrity agencies, 20 October 2020. https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/the-effectiveness-of-the-financial-arrangements-and-management-practices-in-four-integrity-agencies
- NSW Ombudsman website pages (What we do with your complaint; Service delivery charter for complaint handling; Complaints about the NSW Ombudsman; outcomes and key performance indicators; media releases), read 11 October 2026. https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au
- NSW Ombudsman, media release, 2 March 2026, on the s 27 report on inmate discipline reform. https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/about-us/news-events/media-releases
- NSW Government, media release, 30 April 2024, on the Revenue NSW garnishee order report. https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-government-to-implement-all-of-ombudsmans-recommendations-garnishee-orders-report
- Regulator Review, Commonwealth Ombudsman: Report, 11 October 2026 (for the comparison in section 9).