The Ombudsman Act be amended to confer on the Ombudsman a power in equivalent terms to that in s 33(3) of the Auditor-General Act.
The Government accepts this recommendation.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman has the legislative powers to undertake full, independent and transparent investigations. The Government also recognises that in order to provide assurance that an Ombudsman investigation is independent, the Ombudsman needs powers to obtain full, free and direct access to agency records as part of an investigation.
The Government will introduce legislation to establish a statutory power equivalent to that of subsection 33(3) of the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth). This would ensure the Ombudsman is not dependent upon agencies to undertake searches and provide documents and information, and will complement the Ombudsman's existing powers to request and compel agencies to provide information.
The Government will also seek to introduce an equivalent power for the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman.
Departmental and agency responses to own motion investigations by the Ombudsman should be overseen by the legal services division of the relevant department or agency.
The Government accepts in principle this recommendation.
The Government agrees that agency and departmental responses to Ombudsman investigations must be accurate, complete and provided in a timely manner. This needs to be appropriately balanced with the fact that not all departments or agencies have a legal services division to provide oversight of responses. It would also not be appropriate for a legal division to provide oversight of a response in circumstances where the Ombudsman is investigating matters in which a legal area within a department or agency has been directly involved.
The Government has accepted recommendation 21.1, and will progress legislative amendments to require that departmental secretaries and agency chief executive officers ensure that their department or agency use its best endeavours to assist the Ombudsman. Consistent with this obligation, departmental secretaries and chief executive officers will ensure responses to Ombudsman investigations are not led or overseen by individuals or divisions directly involved in matters under investigation.
