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compliance reviews; and the creation of a new
internal review framework separate to the DHS
internal review framework.
The office suggested a number of measures to
ensure that the proposed compliance framework
contains adequate safeguards for job seekers.
Administration of Income Management
for ‘Vulnerable Youth’
In February 2016 the Ombudsman published
a report on the Administration of Income
Management for ‘Vulnerable Youth’. DSS is the
agency responsible for the Income Management
(IM) legislation and associated policies, and DHS
administers it through Centrelink.
IM is designed for people receiving income
support payments who are considered to
be at a higher risk of social isolation and
disengagement, to have poor financial literacy
and to be participating in risky behaviour.
Under the current vulnerable youth measure,
IM is automatically applied to people who
live in an IM declared area and are classed as
‘vulnerable youth’ by virtue of their age and
their qualification for a particular Centrelink
payment. This can include children aged under
16 years who receive Special Benefit; people
aged 16 years and over who have been granted
the Unreasonable to Live at Home (UTLAH)
payment; and people under the age of 25 who
receive a Crisis Payment due to prison release.
In the report, areas of concern included:
• failures of the automated decisionmaking
process
• failures by Authorised Review
Officers to consider all the mandatory
legislative criteria
• the lack of any process to allow DHS
to give effect to the legislative power
to revoke a determination and exit a
person from IM when that person was
otherwise eligible
• decision letters that did not provide
adequate reasons for decisions and a
failure to inform people of their rights.
The Ombudsman made ten recommendations
to DSS and DHS. The departments
responded positively to around half of those
recommendations and have taken steps
towards improving some processes and
policies. The office will continue to work closely
with them to monitor the implementation of
the recommendations.
Engagement
This year, the office continued to engage with
community and government stakeholders.
A number of Indigenous roundtable discussions
were held in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne
and Perth. These offered community
stakeholders an opportunity to identify key
issues and problems affecting Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people.
During the year the office also travelled to
Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, Shepparton,
Murray Bridge, Tamworth, Armidale and the
Sunshine Coast to meet with government and
community stakeholders.
In June 2016 the office hosted an Indigenous
Interpreter Service Forum, in partnership with the
Northern Territory (NT) Ombudsman. This was
an opportunity for people to share their views on
the accessibility and use of Indigenous language
interpreters by Government agencies. These
views will inform the own motion investigations
being conducted by the NT Ombudsman and this
office into the use and accessibility of Indigenous
language interpreters.
Improving Indigenous complaint-handling
Creative approaches can be useful in making
government complaint systems more accessible
and meaningful for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. The office wants to resolve
individual issues and to ensure that complaints
and feedback lead to systemic improvements.
Indigenous complaint-handling forums were
conducted in Canberra and Darwin. Indigenous
leaders, community organisations, government
agencies and oversight bodies discussed
accessibility issues. As a result of these forums,
the office has started four key projects.
Commonwealth Government Community of Practice
— Indigenous complaint-handling
The Community of Practice is a forum
for Commonwealth Government agency
representatives to share contacts, information,
ideas and resources with a view to improving
PART 4—WHAT WE DO
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