15–16

PART 4—WHAT WE DO
Table 10: Inspection and review activities in 2015–16
Function
Inspection of telecommunications interception
records under the Telecommunications
(Interception and Access) Act 1979
Inspection of stored communications—
preservation and access records under the
Telecommunications (Interception and Access)
Act 1979
Inspection of the use of surveillance devices
under the Surveillance Devices Act 2004
Number of
inspections
or reviews in
2015–16
Number of inspection reports
(finalised internal reports
to inspected agencies and
statutory reports to ministers
and the Parliament during
2015–16)
6 4
17 20
8 11
Inspection of controlled operations conducted
under Part 1AB of the Crimes Act 1914
Inspection of metadata records under the
Telecommunications (Interceptions and Access)
Act 1979
Review of Fair Work Building
and Construction’s use of its coercive
examination powers under the Fair Work
(Building Industry) Act 2012
5 3
20 0
17 1
Total 73 39
Our submissions
and briefings
In 2015–16, the office made one committee
submission and provided two briefings to
Parliamentary Committees.
Our submission to the Select Committee
on the Establishment of a National Integrity
Commission was informed by our inspection
and review findings. All unclassified submissions
and published reports are available on our
website at ombudsman.gov.au
The office provided a briefing to the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law
Enforcement and another to the Parliamentary
Joint Committee on the Australian Commission
for Law Enforcement Integrity.
In addition to our inspection and review
activities, in 2015–16, the office also regularly
responded to requests from agencies for advice
about best practices, and requests from other
oversight bodies for advice about developing
inspection methodologies.
Our approach
The office values independence, fairness
and transparency.
These inform the way the office conducts
inspections and reviews and how the office
engages with the agencies it oversees.
For each inspection and review function
the office performs, it develops a set of
methodologies that is applied consistently
across all agencies. These methodologies
comprise test plans, risk registers, checklists
68 | COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT | 2015–16