Page 3076 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 2013
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Western Australia had the first ombudsman in Australia, which it established with the passage of the Parliamentary Commission Act 1971. The Queensland Ombudsman was originally known as the Parliamentary Commissioner until 2001 when the Ombudsman Act was passed. In that 2001 act, the Queensland Ombudsman was officially made an officer of the parliament. Similarly in Victoria, the Ombudsman is also recognised as an independent officer of the parliament.
The ombudsman’s role is not that of an advocate for a complainant. Rather it is to independently review administrative action taken by the agency and form their own view about the appropriateness or otherwise of that action.
It is not possible for members of this place to assess whether the people given particular powers and responsibilities by the laws we pass are exercising those powers and responsibilities properly each and every time. This is why we ask the Ombudsman to fulfil the role and report to us when issues are so serious that intervention or greater public accountability is required. This is a vital function and, like the Auditor-General’s, one that cannot be properly characterised as being part of the executive itself.
It is important to note that the Ombudsman does have a role to work with agencies to assist them to improve their practices and resolve disputes productively. Under the changes proposed in the bill, this will not change. The Ombudsman will continue to work with agencies just as they always have. What the bill does is recognise that ultimately the Ombudsman reports to the Assembly and acts on behalf of the Assembly.
The Electoral Commission performs a vital role on behalf of all members, and there is no logical reason why the executive should exercise any level of control or that the commission should be responsible to the executive in any way when their function is to ensure that the electoral system is fair for all members and candidates equally and therefore it is more appropriate that an electoral commission sit with the legislature itself rather than the executive.
As I said, the appointment process for each of the officers of the Assembly is modelled on the provisions passed by this place for the appointment of the Clerk. One important point to note about appointments is that the bill proposes that a person who has within the preceding two years been a member of the ACT public service cannot be appointed to the position of Auditor-General or Ombudsman. This limitation does not apply to the Electoral Commission and given the functions the commission fulfils, it is unnecessary. The reason is to limit the potential for the perception of a conflict of interest to occur and ensure that we have a fresh perspective on the matters subject to audits by the Auditor-General and investigations by the Ombudsman.
Having declared each of these officers to be an officer of the Assembly, the bill also sets up a number of important processes for the ongoing relationship between the officer and the Assembly. Each officer will have a relationship with an Assembly committee, much like the current relationship between the Auditor-General and the public accounts committee, which will continue under the bill.
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