AUSTRALIA | NSW Ombudsman released report on the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Yesterday the New South Wales Ombudsman released a report, 2020 hindsight: the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report highlights the impacts on individuals of measures taken by the New South Wales Government to combat COVID-19, especially for vulnerable members of the community and those who have been subject to quarantine.

The report acknowledges that, certainly by international standards, the public health response to the pandemic in New South Wales and Australia has been highly effective. One of the lessons of the current pandemic, however, is that the current oversight and complaint handling system will not necessarily be suited to a crisis of this nature and magnitude. The response to COVID-19 involves multiple agencies across multiple layers of government (state and federal), working sometimes in close partnership, sometimes in loose alignment, and sometimes separately, and generally by way of a variety of formal and informal coordination mechanisms. In contrast, the oversight and complaint handling system is highly fragmented.

The report, draws attention to the benefits of effective complaint handling during crises. As well as helping to ensure accountability and fair treatment, complaints provide on-the-ground intelligence to identify risks before they escalate. The report also provides suggestions to improve the response, both to the current and future crises.

You can download a copy of the report below.

Source: New South Wales Ombudsman