South Australian Ombudsman

The Office of the South Australian Ombudsman was created by the Ombudsman Act 1972 to deal with complaints against State Government agencies. However complaints against the Police, Courts and Public Hospitals are not dealt with by the Ombudsman’s office.

In recent years, some 40% of the complaints which have been investigated have been resolved with some benefit to the complainant, the complaint being sustained or reasonably resolved.

Before a complaint can be investigated there are five conditions that must be satisfied:

The agency concerned must be an agency within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman (e.g. a complaint against Police cannot be investigated)
There has to be an identifiable administrative error
It must be within the time limit i.e. 12 months
The complainant must be directly affected by the act complained of
There has to be a likely remedy available

The South Australian Ombudsman has additional powers to enter premises and to inspect documents and may, where it appears to be in the interests of an agency or the public, publish a report which will be referred to the relevant Minister. Under s 14A of the Ombudsman Act 1972 the Ombudsman also has the power to conduct a review of the administrative practices and procedures of an agency if it is in the public interest to do so.

Contact points

SA Ombudsman

50 Grenfell Street ADELAIDE

PO Box 3651 Rundle Mall ADELAIDE 5000

Phone: 8226 8699 or 1800 182 150 (toll free)

Fax: 8226 8602 (fax)

The prison inmate's speakers

A prison inmate complained to the State Ombudsman that the prison had damaged his amplifier and speakers while they were held in the property section. It was not possible for the Ombudsman to determine how the damage had occurred to the amplifier. Without admitting fault, the prison admitted the speakers were in its possession at all times and that the prison was at least morally responsible for the damage to the speakers and paid for the repairs to the speakers.

Jane and the South Australian Housing Trust

A single mother, Jane, alleged that the South Australian Housing Trust had unreasonably terminated the tenancy of her home because of rental arrears. She produced receipts which showed a regular pattern of rental payments, although sometimes they were paid late. The Trust said the termination was because the house appeared to be unoccupied for a considerable length of time, the letterbox was stuffed with uncollected mail and a Christmas parcel left by the front door containing a ham had become fly-blown. The Trust submitted that public housing policy must recognise that many other people in desperate need of accommodation remain on a long waiting list. The State Ombudsman decided that the regular rental payments made by Jane while she was in the country visiting her mother should have indicated to the Trust that the house had not been abandoned. The Housing Trust accepted the Ombudsman's recommendation that Jane be offered accommodation comparable to that which she had lost.