Ombudsman for the Northern Territory of Australia
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OMBUDSMAN FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA Thirty Third Annual Report 2010-11 The Honourable Paul Henderson, MLA Chief Minister Parliament House DARWIN NT 0800 Dear Chief Minister In accordance with the provisions of Section 152 of the Ombudsman Act 2009, the Annual Report on the Office of the Ombudsman for the year ending 30 June 2011 is submitted to you for tabling in the Legislative Assembly. Yours sincerely Carolyn Richards Ombudsman 30 September 2011 Inquiries about this report, or any of the information or references contained within, should be directed to: Julie Carlsen Deputy Ombudsman GPO Box 1344 DARWIN NT 0801 Telephone: 08 8999 1818 or 1800 806 380 (toll free within NT) Facsimile: 08 8999 1828 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.ombudsman.nt.gov.au Annual Report 2010/11 Page 1 ISSN – 0159 4540 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTABLE OFFICER I advise in respect of my duty as Accountable Officer, and to the best of my knowledge and belief: a) proper records of all transactions affecting the Office were kept and employees under my control observed the provisions of the Financial Management Act, the Financial Management Regulations and Treasurer’s Directions; b) procedures within the Office afforded proper internal control, and a current description of these procedures can be found in the Accounting and Property Manual which has been prepared in accordance with the Financial Management Act; c) no indication of fraud, malpractice, major breach of legislation or delegations, major error in or omission from the accounts and records existed; d) in accordance with Section 15 of the Financial Management Act the internal audit capacity available to the Office is adequate and the results of internal audits were reported to me; e) the financial statements included in this Annual Report have been prepared from proper accounts and records and are in accordance with Part 2, Section 5 of the Treasurer’s Directions where appropriate; and f) all actions have been in compliance with all Employment Instructions issued by the Commissioner for Public Employment. In addition, I advise that in relation to items (a) and (e) the Chief Executive (CE) of Department of Business and Employment (DBE) has advised that to the best of his knowledge and belief, proper records are kept of transactions undertaken by DBE on my behalf, and the employees under his control observe the provisions of the Financial Management Act, the Financial Management Regulations and Treasurer’s Directions. The CE of DBE also advises all financial reports prepared by DBE for this Annual Report, have been prepared from proper accounts and records and are in accordance with Treasurer’s Directions Part 2, Section 5 and Part 2, Section 6, where appropriate. CAROLYN RICHARDS Ombudsman 30 September 2011 Page 2 Annual Report 2010/11 ISSN – 0159 4540 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW .......................................................................................... 6 OMBUDSMAN’S FOREWORD ................................................................................................... 6 A YEAR IN REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 8 Jurisdiction ................................................................................................................................ 9 Approaches/Complaints ..................................................................................................... 10 Website Visits ......................................................................................................................... 11 Achieving results ................................................................................................................... 12 Customer Satisfaction Surveys ......................................................................................... 15 Certificate IV in Government (Investigations) ............................................................ 16 Resource Pressures .............................................................................................................. 16 2. ABOUT THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN ....................................................................... 19 OUR ORGANISATION ............................................................................................................... 19 OMBUDSMAN SERVICE STANDARDS ................................................................................. 19 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE .......................................................................................... 20 STAFFING ESTABLISHMENT ................................................................................................. 21 UNREASONABLE COMPLAINANTS ...................................................................................... 22 3. PERFORMANCE ........................................................................................................................... 27 OVERALL PERFORMANCE...................................................................................................... 27 Outputs ...................................................................................................................................... 27 ACTIVITY 1: RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINTS ............................................................ 29 TOTAL APPROACHES ................................................................................................... 29 OUTSIDE JURISDICTION (OSJ) .................................................................................. 33 CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ......................................................................................... 38 Request to Attend the Superintendent’s Parade (RASP) ............................ 38 Prisoner complaints: ............................................................................................... 38 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (EXCLUDING PRISONER COMPLAINTS) ............ 42 Issues of Complaint .................................................................................................. 43 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 43 HOUSING, LOCAL GOVERNMENT & REGIONAL SERVICES (HLGRS) ............. 49 Issues of Complaint .................................................................................................. 50 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 51 POWER & WATER ......................................................................................................... 55 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 56 NORTHERN TERRITORY POLICE.............................................................................. 60 How Complaints are finalised .............................................................................. 60 Complaint Outcomes: .............................................................................................. 62 Complaint statistics: ................................................................................................ 62 Presentations to Police Recruits ......................................................................... 64 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 64 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING (DET) ..................................... 68 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 68 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & FAMILIES (DHF) ................................................... 74 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 75 DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT (DBE) ....................................... 79 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 79 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS & PLANNING (DLP) ..................................................... 80 Annual Report 2010/11 Page 3 ISSN – 0159 4540 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 81 TREASURY ....................................................................................................................... 82 DEPARTMENT OF RESOURCES (DOR) .................................................................... 82 NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT, THE ARTS & SPORT (NRETAS) ... 82 Case Studies ................................................................................................................ 83 ACTIVITY 2: IMPROVE THE DELIVERY OF SERVICES ........................................... 88 OUTPUTS .......................................................................................................................... 88 HIGHLIGHTS .................................................................................................................... 88 ACTIVITY 3: INSPECTION OF NT POLICE RECORDS .............................................. 90 OUTPUTS .......................................................................................................................... 90 OVERSIGHT FUNCTION ............................................................................................... 90