Items of interest for the Complaints, Accountability, Integrity Network
How agencies respond to investigations
Making complaints work for everyone
“The report focuses on the impact of complaints on staff who have been complained about. Whilst organisations are increasingly more likely to describe themselves as 'learning organisations', research suggests that being subject to a complaint can have an adverse impact on the individual involved and can limit, rather than promote, learning. The overriding message that has emerged from this report is that organisations need to actively support their staff through complaints processes and engage staff in positive and purposeful activities to manage and learn from complaints. Getting this right will encourage staff, help drive improvement in services and promote learning.”
https://www.spso.org.uk/sites/spso/files/communications_material/Thematic_Reports/MakingComplaintsWorkForEveryoneFinalWeb.pdf
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, December 2017
How regulatory agencies determine priorities
2018 ACCC Compliance and Enforcement Policy and Priorities
This 8 page policy sets out the rationale for ACCC decision-making and its priorities for compliance and enforcement. It provides a detailed public explanation of the bases on which the ACCC will make decisions about the exercise of these functions.
https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/D18-20423%20Enf%20-%20Admin%20Other%20-%20CLEAN%20VERSION%20final%20draft%20Combined%20Complia...%20%5Bfinal.%5D.pdf
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, February 2018
Privacy Protection
Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme has commenced
Australian Government agencies and the various organisations required to secure personal information under the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 now have data breach notification and assessment obligations under the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speeches/news/the-notifiable-data-breaches-scheme-commences-today
Privacy Awareness Week
7-11 May 2018 is Privacy Awareness Week.
https://infocomm.nt.gov.au/about-us/news/articles/privacy-awareness-week2
Agency supply of inaccurate information
Correcting the record: Investigation into water compliance and enforcement 2007-17
The CAIN Update for November 2017 provided a link to a NSW Ombudsman report on water compliance and enforcement issues over a period of ten years. The primary purpose of this follow-up report is “to correct the public record in relation to the enforcement statistics published in the special report and to examine how WaterNSW came to provide the Ombudsman with statistics that were inaccurate.”
https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/53229/Correcting-the-record_Investigation-into-water-compliance-and-enforcement-1007-17.pdf
NSW Ombudsman, March 2018
Aged and mental health care
Oakden: A Shameful Chapter in South Australia’s History
Investigation report. “The consumers who resided at the Oakden Older Persons Mental Health Service … were some of the most frail and vulnerable persons in our community. They did not have a voice. They were obliged to live in a facility which could only be described as a disgrace, and in which they received very poor care. The process and procedures were such that they were forgotten and ignored. The State did not provide them with the level of care that they deserved. Every South Australian should be outraged at the way in which these consumers were treated. It represents a shameful chapter in this State’s history.”
https://service.sa.gov.au/cdn/icac/ICAC_Report_Oakden.pdf
South Australian Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, February 2018
Electorate officers utilised in election campaign
Investigation of a matter referred from the Legislative Council on 25 November 2015
The report relates to an investigation into the use of staff engaged as electorate officers to campaign in the lead up to the 2014 Victorian state election. The investigation arose from a referral by Parliament. The Ombudsman found that a number of parliamentarians had breached the Members’ Guide and indicated that public confidence would be well served by repayment of over $350,000.
https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/getattachment/88ce046d-8fad-4cbd-a90e-9784b579a1ec
Victorian Ombudsman, March 2018
Provision of a link in CAIN updates is not an endorsement of a website or a publication. Readers must make up their own minds about the value of any information provided or views expressed.