The NSW Ombudsman last published complaint-handling targets in 2017-18. They were modest: 80 per cent of complaints acknowledged and assessed within 10 days, 95 per cent finalised within 12 months.
For the next four years there were no indicators at all. In 2022-23 the Office "developed a draft suite of key performance indicators". In 2023-24 it "finalised a suite" and wrote: "We will also use our results to establish targets to report future performance against."
The 2024-25 report has indicators, with last year's results beside them, and no targets. The indicators measure the share of complaints "finalised within target timeframes", reported against 10 days and 12 months, but no report says what share the Office aims to achieve.
The Office's website tells complainants that "Most complaints are handled within 30 business days". The published figures are consistent with that: 64 per cent of actionable complaints were finalised within 30 days in 2024-25, and 89 per cent within 90 days. The point is not that the website is wrong, but that there is no published target behind it.
Sources: Annual Reports 2017-18 p 7; 2022-23 p 51; 2023-24 p 54; 2024-25 pp 35, 58-62; NSW Ombudsman outcomes and key performance indicators; ombo.nsw.gov.au, What we do with your complaint, read 11 October 2026.