BackThe Queensland Ombudsman’s annual report shows an 11% increase in complaints received by the Office. The 2014-15 annual report was recently tabled in Parliament.
Queensland Ombudsman Phil Clarke said his Office received 6,980 complaints and completed 1,119 investigations in 2014-15.
“This Office provides an essential service to help Queenslanders achieve fairness when dealing with state government, local councils and public universities,” Mr Clarke said.
“It is also important we help public sector agencies to make better decisions, improve services and enhance complaint management processes so matters are resolved quickly and fairly.”
Of the investigations completed, 247 (or 22%) resulted in the total or partial rectification of an issue, an increase of 58 per cent on 2013-14.
State government departments continue to be the main source of complaints.
Significant increases were seen in the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (Department of Treasury and Trade) as complaints doubled, a 26% increase in complaints about the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, and Queensland Corrective Services (Department of Justice and Attorney-General) with a 25% increase.
Complaints about public universities increased by 12 percent in 2014-15 and included issues about courses, exclusions, and enrolments.
Local council complaints decreased by 2 per cent.
The Office of the Queensland Ombudsman also celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2014-15 and has finalised over 150,000 complaints during this time.
The 2014-15 annual report is available HERE.
Source: Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia
