Ombudsman's Quarterly Update | July 2023
Date posted:Several hundred public servants, and members of the public, recently tuned in to the first of our ‘Behind the Scenes’ webinars, designed to give anyone who might come into contact with the office an insight into how investigations are conducted and complaints resolved.
We were pleased to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, including: ‘Good to see the Ombudsman’s office being accessible and transparent’; and that the sessions were ‘very engaging and informative’, with ‘great advice and tips’. We intend these to be the first in a series of webinars on areas of interest – watch out for the next ones in coming months.
We also participated in Law Week, through a panel discussion at the State Library on the topical subject of emergencies and disasters; and joining in the regional roadshow to Gippsland. [If you missed the lively discussion in the State Library, it’s available here.
The end of the financial year marks the close of our 22/23 Annual Plan and the tabling of our new one.
Key achievements in the last year include the increasingly successful take-up of our new conciliation and complaints review functions; work to improve the complainant experience through technology such as WebChat and SMS updates; and a trial on ‘warm handovers’ – putting a complainant directly in contact with a person in an agency best placed to resolve their problem. This year we plan to build on this progress, also through regional engagement and our focus on working with community legal centres.
You can find our annual plan here.
Whatever the wintry weather brings us in coming months, we will be busy!