Did they do what they said they would? Reviewing our Recommendations Volume 2

17 October 2022 –Did They Do What They Said They Would? Volume2 – Ombudsman report about agencies’ implementation of recommendations.

The Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman, Iain Anderson today published a report, Did They Do What They Said They Would? Volume2, assessing the implementation of recommendations made in 10 investigation reports published by the Office in the period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2021.

The reports covered a range of ACT and Commonwealth agencies including ACT Corrective Services, ACT Policing, the ACT Revenue Office, AFP, CSC, Defence, NDIA and Services Australia.

‘Our point-in-time assessments measure the progress made by 8 agencies to implement 73 accepted recommendations made in 10 reports’, said the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Iain Anderson.

‘I am pleased to report that of the 73 recommendations accepted, 67 have either been fully or partially implemented.’

‘We can see that agencies are making improvements and doing things differently because of our recommendations,’ he said.

The report found that in response to the Ombudsman’s recommendations, agencies have:

• updated policies and procedures
• improved communication with customers
• delivered staff training
• initiated systems changes
• improved quality assurance processes, record keeping and service delivery.

‘I would like to thank all the agencies involved for their cooperation with my Office throughout this project’, Mr Anderson said.

The agencies and reports covered by the report are shown below:

Agency	Report	Published
ACT Corrective Services	Parole processes at the Alexander Maconochie Centre	November 2020
ACT Revenue Office	Investigation into the transparency of commercial land valuation decisions in the ACT	August 2020
Australian Federal Police	Statement by the Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe on the Australian Federal Police's handling of allegations made about the Hon Angus Taylor MP	November 2020
Australian Federal Police/ACT Policing	ACT Policing's administrative framework for engagement with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community — Volume one & Volume two	March 2021
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation	Investigation into the administration of the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits scheme	December 2019
Department of Defence	Defence's policies for receiving and responding to reports of abuse	August 2019
Department of Defence	Inquiry into behaviour training for Defence recruits	July 2020
National Disability Insurance Agency	Administration of NDIS funded assistive technology	August 2020
National Disability Insurance Agency	Investigation into the actions of the NDIA in relation to Mr C	February 2020
Services Australia	Services Australia’s Income Compliance Program	April 2021

The report can be found on the Commonwealth Ombudsman website here.

Contact:

Carmen Miragaya, Acting Senior Assistant Ombudsman, Strategy Branch

Email: media@ombudsman.gov.au