The Ombudsman operates under the Ombudsman Act 1978 and is responsible for enquiry and investigation into complaints regarding the administrative actions of Tasmanian government agencies, local councils and a range of other public authorities. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve individual grievances and address systemic issues arising from administrative matters in the public sector. Through independent, objective and impartial investigations, the Ombudsman promotes fairness and equity and aims to bring about improvements in the quality and standard of public administration.
The Ombudsman also has a number of other responsibilities including:
· Energy Ombudsman under the Energy Ombudsman Act 1998;
· Coordinator of the Official Visitors Scheme under the Corrections Act 1997;
· Principal Official Visitor under the Mental Health Act 2013;
· providing administrative support for the Mental Health and Prison Official Visitors Programs; and
· implementing the Right to Information Act 2009, the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002.
The Health Complaints Commissioner operates under the Health Complaints Act 1995 and is responsible for promoting and protecting health rights, resolving complaints between health care users and providers and seeking improvements in the delivery of health services in Tasmania. The Commissioner achieves this through the conciliation, investigation and assessment of complaints, encouraging parties to resolve complaints between themselves and assisting providers to develop procedures to resolve complaints.
The Custodial Inspector is appointed by the Governor of Tasmania under the Custodial Inspector Act 2016. The purpose of the Custodial Inspector is to provide independent, proactive, preventative and systemic oversight of custodial centres. The focus of the Inspector is on systemic issues relating to the management, control and security of the State’s prisons and youth detention centre and the care and welfare of prisoners and detainees. In particular, the Inspector provides external scrutiny through the publication of reports and recommendations. The Inspector reports directly to the Minister responsible for the custodial centre and the responsible Minister is then to table a copy of the Inspector’s report in each House of Parliament.
This chapter provides financial information about the Outputs to be delivered by the Office in 2020‑21 and the Forward Estimates (2021‑22 to 2023‑24). Further information about the Office of the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner is provided at:
· www.ombudsman.tas.gov.au;
· www.healthcomplaints.tas.gov.au;
· www.energyombudsman.tas.gov.au;
· www.officialvisitors.tas.gov.au; and
· www.custodialinspector.tas.gov.au.
Table 20.1 provides a summary of the Budget and Forward Estimates allocations for the Office’s key deliverables.
|
|
2020-21
Budget |
2021-22 Forward Estimate |
2022-23 Forward Estimate |
2023-24 Forward Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COVID-19 Response and Recovery Measures |
|
|
|
|
|
Public Building Maintenance Program |
100 |
…. |
…. |
…. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other Key Deliverables |
|
|
|
|
|
Right to Information Workload Support |
245 |
245 |
245 |
245 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Office of the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner received funding of $100 000 to renovate existing leased office accommodation to more adequately house the Office’s present establishment. The renovation will increase the number of individual offices by three, allowing social distancing requirements to be met and making better use of unused space.
Funding of $245 000 per annum was provided in the 2019‑20 Budget to support the Office’s Right to Information work. This funding has been used to establish a Right to Information team through the recruitment of a new Principal Officer and new Investigation and Review Officer to continue dealing with new Right to Information Act review matters in a timely fashion; finalising the backlog of such matters; working with agencies to provide specialised RTI experience through voluntary placements within the Office; and coordinating RTI training, particularly in smaller public authorities.
Other key deliverables for the Office of the Ombudsman include:
· continuing the inspection of custodial centres in Tasmania pursuant to the Custodial Inspector Act;
· continuing to identify suitable areas for own motion investigations, conducting such investigations and publishing quality reports;
· addressing the backlog of Right to Information Act reviews;
· building relationships at agency and provider level to improve processes, as well as making complaint handling information available to assist with timely resolution of complaints;
· continuing to focus on implementing internal processes which enable the more effective and timely resolution of complaints under the Ombudsman Act and the Health Complaints Act;
· building capacity (staffing, training and data-base) to meet new obligations related to the implementation of the National Code of Conduct for Health Care Workers and the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture;
· coordinating and providing education and advice in relation to both health rights and responsibilities and assisting providers to build capacity to respond to complaints internally in accordance with section 6 (c), (e) and (f) of the Health Complaints Act;
· providing clear outcomes for energy consumers making complaints to the Ombudsman in a changing Tasmanian energy market; and
· continuing to recruit, train and mentor Official Visitors to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the Official Visitors Programs.
Outputs of the Office of the Ombudsman are provided under the following Output Groups:
· Output Group 1 - The Office of the Ombudsman; and
· Output Group 89 - Public Building Maintenance Program.
Table 20.2 provides an Output Group Expense Summary for the Office of the Ombudsman.
To enable the presentation of this important information, new Output Groups have been established. Output Group 89 - Public Building Maintenance Program, reflects expenditure under the Government’s Public Building Maintenance Program. Further information in relation to this output is provided in the Key Deliverables section of this chapter.
|
|
2019‑20 |
2020‑21 |
2021‑22 |
2022‑23 |
2023‑24 |
|
|
|
|
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
|
|
Budget |
Budget |
Estimate |
Estimate |
Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Output Group 1 - The Office of the Ombudsman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.1 Decisions on Complaints Referred to the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner and Right to Information1 |
3 213 |
3 366 |
3 360 |
3 402 |
3 463 |
|
|
3 213 |
3 366 |
3 360 |
3 402 |
3 463 |
|
Output Group 89 - Public Building Maintenance Program |
|
|
|
|
|
|
89.1 Public Building Maintenance Program |
.... |
100 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
|
.... |
100 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
3 213 |
3 466 |
3 360 |
3 402 |
3 463 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note:
1. The increase in Decisions on Complaints Referred to the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner and Right to Information, in 2020‑21, reflects the reallocation of expenditure from 2019‑20 to meet the cash flow requirements of the Office.
This Output provides for the independent and impartial resolution of complaints and the investigation of systemic issues relating to public administration, health care and energy services.
|
Performance Measure1 |
Unit of Measure |
2017‑18 Actual |
2018‑19 Actual |
2019‑20 Actual |
2020‑21 Target |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Enquiries Finalised ‑ Ombudsman, Health Complaints and Energy Ombudsman2,3 |
Number |
1 710 |
1 920 |
1 685 |
1 769 |
|
Complaints Finalised ‑ Ombudsman, Health Complaints and Energy Ombudsman2,4 |
Number |
1 414 |
1 458 |
1 223 |
1 284 |
|
Cases Finalised per FTE5,6 |
Number |
188 |
196 |
156 |
167 |
|
Complaints to Ombudsman, Health Complaints and Energy Ombudsman Resolved in Less Than Three Months2,4 |
% |
83 |
81 |
80 |
85 |
|
Health Complaints Assessed Within Statutory Period of 45 days7 |
% |
76 |
79 |
82 |
75 |
|
Health Complaints Assessed Within the Extended Statutory Period of 90 days7 |
% |
88 |
87 |
91 |
90 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes:
1. The average time to complete RTI decisions and quality of RTI training measures have been removed. The Office is not able to conduct RTI training due to COVID-19 restrictions and the average time to complete RTI decisions can be misleading as it is dependent on the particular cases closed in any given year.
2. The Office expects the number of enquires and complaints finalised to increase by approximately five per cent in 2020‑21.
3. The Enquiries Finalised figure includes out of jurisdiction enquiries received by the Office.
4. Complaints figures exclude Public Interest Disclosure notifications.
5. ‘Case’ includes both enquiries and complaints managed by the Office.
6. FTEs include all investigation staff and corporate administration support. FTEs exclude Official Visitor and Custodial Inspectorate staff who do not manage cases. FTEs in 2019‑20 increased in the Right to Information area.
7. This period includes time waiting for responses from health providers and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
8.
|
|
2019‑20 |
2020‑21 |
2021‑22 |
2022‑23 |
2023‑24 |
|
|
|
|
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
|
|
Budget |
Budget |
Estimate |
Estimate |
Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue and other income |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appropriation revenue - operating |
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
Other revenue from government |
.... |
56 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
Grants1 |
.... |
100 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
Other revenue |
551 |
557 |
557 |
557 |
557 |
|
Total revenue |
3 153 |
3 391 |
3 301 |
3 358 |
3 422 |
|
Total income |
3 153 |
3 391 |
3 301 |
3 358 |
3 422 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employee benefits2 |
2 469 |
2 596 |
2 590 |
2 635 |
2 687 |
|
Depreciation and amortisation |
209 |
187 |
185 |
185 |
185 |
|
Supplies and consumables1 |
437 |
558 |
463 |
465 |
472 |
|
Borrowing costs |
7 |
32 |
27 |
21 |
21 |
|
Other expenses |
91 |
93 |
95 |
96 |
98 |
|
Total expenses |
3 213 |
3 466 |
3 360 |
3 402 |
3 463 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net result |
(60) |
(75) |
(59) |
(44) |
(41) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comprehensive result |
(60) |
(75) |
(59) |
(44) |
(41) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes:
1. The increase in Grants and Supplies and consumables in 2020-21 reflects funding provided through the Public Building Maintenance Program to renovate existing office accommodation.
2. The increase in Employee benefits in 2020‑21 reflects the reallocation of expenditure from 2019‑20 to meet the cash flow requirements of the Office.
|
|
2019‑20 |
2020‑21 |
2021‑22 |
2022‑23 |
2023‑24 |
|
|
|
|
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
|
|
Budget |
Budget |
Estimate |
Estimate |
Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Output Group 1 - The Office of the Ombudsman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.1 Decisions on Complaints Referred to the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner and Right to Information |
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Office of the Ombudsman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Operating Services Expenditure |
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appropriation Rollover |
.... |
56 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Revenue from Appropriation |
2 602 |
2 734 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Controlled Revenue from Appropriation |
2 602 |
2 734 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
2 602 |
2 734 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
|
|
|
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
|
|
Budget |
Budget |
Estimate |
Estimate |
Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financial assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and deposits |
65 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
|
Receivables |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
67 |
86 |
86 |
86 |
86 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-financial assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intangibles |
11 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Other assets |
420 |
1 007 |
837 |
659 |
481 |
|
|
431 |
1 011 |
840 |
661 |
482 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total assets |
498 |
1 097 |
926 |
747 |
568 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Payables |
11 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
|
Interest bearing liabilities |
43 |
617 |
488 |
336 |
181 |
|
Employee benefits |
434 |
541 |
558 |
575 |
592 |
|
Other liabilities |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Total liabilities |
489 |
1 180 |
1 068 |
933 |
795 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net assets (liabilities) |
9 |
(83) |
(142) |
(186) |
(227) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Equity |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accumulated funds |
9 |
(83) |
(142) |
(186) |
(227) |
|
Total equity |
9 |
(83) |
(142) |
(186) |
(227) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note:
1. Some balance estimates for 2021 and later years will be impacted by final closing balances presented in the Agency’s 2019‑20 Annual Report. Further information on the impact of the timing of the 2020‑21 Budget on opening balances is provided in chapter 1 of this Budget Paper.
2.
|
|
2019‑20 |
2020‑21 |
2021‑22 |
2022‑23 |
2023‑24 |
|
|
|
|
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
|
|
Budget |
Budget |
Estimate |
Estimate |
Estimate |
|
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
$'000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash flows from operating activities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash inflows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appropriation receipts - operating |
2 602 |
2 678 |
2 744 |
2 801 |
2 865 |
|
Appropriation receipts - other |
.... |
56 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
Grants1 |
.... |
100 |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
Other cash receipts |
551 |
557 |
557 |
557 |
557 |
|
Total cash inflows |
3 153 |
3 391 |
3 301 |
3 358 |
3 422 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash outflows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employee benefits2 |
(2 198) |
(2 314) |
(2 309) |
(2 350) |
(2 398) |
|
Superannuation |
(254) |
(265) |
(264) |
(268) |
(272) |
|
Borrowing costs |
(7) |
(32) |
(27) |
(21) |
(21) |
|
Supplies and consumables1 |
(437) |
(558) |
(463) |
(465) |
(472) |
|
Other cash payments |
(91) |
(93) |
(95) |
(96) |
(98) |
|
Total cash outflows |
(2 987) |
(3 262) |
(3 158) |
(3 200) |
(3 261) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net cash from (used by) operating activities |
166 |
129 |
143 |
158 |
161 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash flows from financing activities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net borrowings |
(166) |
(129) |
(143) |
(158) |
(161) |
|
Net cash from (used by) financing activities |
(166) |
(129) |
(143) |
(158) |
(161) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents held |
.... |
.... |
.... |
.... |
.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and deposits at the beginning of the reporting period |
65 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
|
Cash and deposits at the end of the reporting period |
65 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
84 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes:
1. The increase in Grants and Supplies and consumables in 2020-21 reflects funding provided through the Public Building Maintenance Program to renovate existing office accommodation.
2. The increase in Employee benefits in 2020‑21 reflects the reallocation of expenditure from 2019‑20 to meet the cash flow requirements of the Office.