The word Ombudsman is defined in the Merrian-Webster dictionary as "a government official (as in Sweden or New Zealand) appointed to receive and investigate complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of public official" and "one that investigates, reports on, and helps settle complaint". Plural: Ombudsmen; non-gender specific noun (Merrian-Webster, 2010).
History and Background
The Office of the Ombudsmen was set up by the New Zealand government in 1962 in its initial form as the Parliamentary Commissioner (Hubbard, 2010). The commission acts as an independent agency of the parliament to deal with complaints against any administrative acts and omits of government departments and The Ombudsman model originated in Scandinavia model where the system was first established in Sweden in 1809 as the Parliamentary Ombudsman to “safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive branch” (ANZOA, 2010). The term Ombudsman is of Swedish origin and has the roughly translated meaning of “grievance person”, itself derived from Old Norse “umbuds man” meaning representative (ANZOA, 2010). The term was adopted by the New Zealand legislation in the Ombudsmen Act 1973 as the official term replacing the title of Parliamentary Commissioner. The Ombudsmen Act 1973 also officially established the role and function of the Office of the Ombudsmen in New Zealand. Later on, the Office of the Ombudsmen was given additionally duties in managing disclosure of official information by public request and agent for protected disclosure (whistle-blowing) under Official Information Act 1982 and Protected Disclosures Act 2000 (Webb., D. et al. 2010).
Ombudsmen Act 1973
The Office of the Ombudsman is given power by the executive branch of Parliament, appointed as independent officers of Parliament. The Act set outs the duties of the Ombudsman in Section 13(1) as:
“It shall be a function of the Ombudsmen to investigate any decision or recommendation made, or any act done or omitted, … relating to a matter of administration and affecting any person or body of persons in his (or her) personal capacity, in or by any of the departments or organisations ….”
The Role and Functions of the Ombudsmen
The Ombudsman acts as a watchdog of parliament and is aimed at maintaining transparency of government actions, as well as providing a platform for members of the public to make complaints about government and Crown agencies listed in the Schedule to the Act (Webb et al., 2010). The Ombudsman is given power under the legislative to investigate complaints against executives, central and local government bodies, subsidiary government agencies, including any state owned departments or agents, such as state owned education providers and district health boards. If an individual feel they are treated unfairly by a government entity or if they disagree with the decisions by the entity concerning them which has a significant impact, they can make a complaint regarding the issue to the Ombudsman. It is free for anyone in New Zealand to make a complaint to an Ombudsman and the investigation is conducted privately (Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011).
An Ombudsman acts independentlu, impartially and fairly in its dealings with complaints and investigations. The Ombudsman aims to resolve the issues raised in the complaint by aiming to achieve a resolution which is fair to both sides. However, the recommendations made by the Ombudsman are not legally binding and cannot be enforced by law upon the government agent the complaint was lodged against (Webb., D. et al., 2010). They act as a guideline for actions expected to be taken by the party concerned to remedy the situation.
If a complaint is lodged with the Ombudsman, the following steps are taken:
Decision on whether the complaint is within the jurisdiction of the office – For most complaints regarding a government agency, the Ombudsman is able to investigate; however, issues of private sectors agencies are not within the power of the office. Some complaints may be referred to other parliamentary commissioners (for example, Privacy Commissioner or Human Rights Commissioner) if it is deemed more suitable for them to investigate. It may decide if the issue is minor enough to resolve through informal enquiries or conduct a formal investigation.
Investigate complaints – the Ombudsman looks into the complaints and investigates the issues raised to assess the underlying problems and how to resolve them.
Reporting on the findings – a report is produced on the findings by the Ombudsman into the issues, detailing the details of the situation.
Makes recommendations for to remedy and resolve the complaint – the Ombudsman will make recommendations to the government agent concerned regarding what they should do to rectify the situation. They can also make suggestions for improvements for the government agency to follow in the future.
The Ombudsman also has an obligation to examine and monitor prisons, premises approved and agreed under the Immigration Act 1987, health and disability places of detention; and youth justice residences established under section 364 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 (The Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011). In addition, the Ombudsman also has the following duties, which will be explained in the sections below.
Duties under the Official Information Act 1982
The Ombudsman was appointed for a constitutional role to monitor provision of official information. This is a way of ensuring transparent and open governance and public knowledge of what actually happens in the decision and action making body of the executive branch of government, for example. This open access to information holds the government to be accountable for their decisions and enables better administration of policies. The Official Information Act 1982 was introduced to repeal the Official Secrets Act 1951 under which official information was able not to be disclosed to the public (Hubbard, J. et al., 2010). As all acts and omits by the government is of great impact to society, this is an important right by the citizens of the state to information. The Ombudsman is able to disclose the information requested if requests made are deemed reasonable and allowed under the act. The Ombudsman is responsible in recognising and identifying which official information is considered private and which should be open to public scrutiny, and whether the withheld information requested should be released. The Office of the Ombudsmen may also work with the Privacy Commissioner regarding issues of privacy (Webb, D. et al., 2010).
Duties under the Protected Disclosures Act 2000
If an individual has information relating the serious offence or illegal behaviour which they believe is happening in their organisation, they are able to approach the Ombudsman to make a protected disclosure or “whistle-blowing” on the situation with their identity being protected to protect themselves from possible harm and retaliation. It is this protection which will enable more people to be brave enough to be vigilante. This encourages better governance and responsibility to society and reduces abuse of bureaucracy and power. The Ombudsman is one of many authorities to which serious wrongdoing can be reported to, other including the Police Commissioner and Director of Serious Fraud Office (Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011).
For Further Information...
If you would like to find out more information about the Office of the Ombudsman in New Zealand, visit these sites: The website of the Office of the Ombudsmen provides many detailed resources and additional information with digital pamphlets available for download, with guidelines on how to make a complaint, lodge a request for official information and making protected disclosure or “whistle-blowing”. The Wikipedia article on the Ombudsman also provides an overview of the role of Ombudsman in general. The Ombudsmen Act 1975 is available online on the New Zealand legislations website for viewing and gives detailed role of Ombudsman as set out under the law. The website of the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association is also a good place to find information about the functions and requirements of an Ombudsman. Also including information on other forms of ombudsman in existence outside of appointment by parliamentary. If you're also interested in knowing more about other international ombudsman offices, visit the International Ombudsman Institute website.
Written by Yue Lin
Courtesy of (C) Neil Pri (Source: http://cambodia.panda.org/earthhour/news/?160661/Earth-Hour-News-Stream)
What is an Ombudsman?
Courtesy of Cherry Valley Elementary School (Source: http://www.cv.riverview.wednet.edu/staff/powers/mad_minute_downloads.htm)
Definition
The word Ombudsman is defined in the Merrian-Webster dictionary as "a government official (as in Sweden or New Zealand) appointed to receive and investigate complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of public official" and "one that investigates, reports on, and helps settle complaint". Plural: Ombudsmen; non-gender specific noun (Merrian-Webster, 2010).
History and Background
The Ombudsman model originated in Scandinavia model where the system was first established in Sweden in 1809 as the Parliamentary Ombudsman to “safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive branch” (ANZOA, 2010). The term Ombudsman is of Swedish origin and has the roughly translated meaning of “grievance person”, itself derived from Old Norse “umbuds man” meaning representative (ANZOA, 2010). The term was adopted by the New Zealand legislation in the Ombudsmen Act 1973 as the official term replacing the title of Parliamentary Commissioner. The Ombudsmen Act 1973 also officially established the role and function of the Office of the Ombudsmen in New Zealand. Later on, the Office of the Ombudsmen was given additionally duties in managing disclosure of official information by public request and agent for protected disclosure (whistle-blowing) under Official Information Act 1982 and Protected Disclosures Act 2000 (Webb., D. et al. 2010).
Ombudsmen Act 1973
The Office of the Ombudsman is given power by the executive branch of Parliament, appointed as independent officers of Parliament. The Act set outs the duties of the Ombudsman in Section 13(1) as:
“It shall be a function of the Ombudsmen to investigate any decision or recommendation made, or any act done or omitted, … relating to a matter of administration and affecting any person or body of persons in his (or her) personal capacity, in or by any of the departments or organisations ….”
The Role and Functions of the Ombudsmen
The Ombudsman acts as a watchdog of parliament and is aimed at maintaining transparency of government actions, as well as providing a platform for members of the public to make complaints about government and Crown agencies listed in the Schedule to the Act (Webb et al., 2010).
The Ombudsman is given power under the legislative to investigate complaints against executives, central and local government bodies, subsidiary government agencies, including any state owned departments or agents, such as state owned education providers and district health boards. If an individual feel they are treated unfairly by a government entity or if they disagree with the decisions by the entity concerning them which has a significant impact, they can make a complaint regarding the issue to the Ombudsman. It is free for anyone in New Zealand to make a complaint to an Ombudsman and the investigation is conducted privately (Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011).
An Ombudsman acts independentlu, impartially and fairly in its dealings with complaints and investigations. The Ombudsman aims to resolve the issues raised in the complaint by aiming to achieve a resolution which is fair to both sides. However, the recommendations made by the Ombudsman are not legally binding and cannot be enforced by law upon the government agent the complaint was lodged against (Webb., D. et al., 2010). They act as a guideline for actions expected to be taken by the party concerned to remedy the situation.
If a complaint is lodged with the Ombudsman, the following steps are taken:
The Ombudsman also has an obligation to examine and monitor prisons, premises approved and agreed under the Immigration Act 1987, health and disability places of detention; and youth justice residences established under section 364 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 (The Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011). In addition, the Ombudsman also has the following duties, which will be explained in the sections below.
Duties under the Official Information Act 1982
Duties under the Protected Disclosures Act 2000
If an individual has information relating the serious offence or illegal behaviour which they believe is happening in their organisation, they are able to approach the Ombudsman to make a protected disclosure or “whistle-blowing” on the situation with their identity being protected to protect themselves from possible harm and retaliation. It is this protection which will enable more people to be brave enough to be vigilante. This encourages better governance and responsibility to society and reduces abuse of bureaucracy and power. The Ombudsman is one of many authorities to which serious wrongdoing can be reported to, other including the Police Commissioner and Director of Serious Fraud Office (Office of the Ombudsmen, 2011).
For Further Information...
The website of the Office of the Ombudsmen provides many detailed resources and additional information with digital pamphlets available for download, with guidelines on how to make a complaint, lodge a request for official information and making protected disclosure or “whistle-blowing”.
The Wikipedia article on the Ombudsman also provides an overview of the role of Ombudsman in general.
The Ombudsmen Act 1975 is available online on the New Zealand legislations website for viewing and gives detailed role of Ombudsman as set out under the law.
The website of the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association is also a good place to find information about the functions and requirements of an Ombudsman. Also including information on other forms of ombudsman in existence outside of appointment by parliamentary.
If you're also interested in knowing more about other international ombudsman offices, visit the International Ombudsman Institute website.
References
Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association (ANZOA) (2010). http://www.anzoa.com.au/ANZOA_Ombudsman_services_Australia_NewZealand.htm. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
Hubbard, J., Thomas, C. & Varnham, S. (2010). Principles of law for New Zealand business students. (4th Ed). Pearson NZ Ltd: Auckland.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online (2011). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ombudsman. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
Office of the Ombudsman (2011). http://ombudsman.govt.nz. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
Official Information Act 1982. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1982/0156/latest/DLM64785.html. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
Ombudsmen Act 1975. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1975/0009/latest/DLM430984.html. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
Protected Disclosures Act 2000. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0007/latest/DLM53466.html. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
Webb, D., Sanders., K., Scott, P. (2010) The New Zealand legal system. (5th Ed). LexusNexis NZ Ltd: Wellington.