15–16

Of these cases, the office finalised 375
complaints without an investigation (compared
to 419 last year). The reasons the office
declined to investigate included:
• There were existing avenues within the
relevant agency to seek a review or have
the issue considered in the first instance.
• The office formed a view, on
the documents provided by the
complainant, that the agency’s actions
were reasonable, or that there was
not enough information provided to
support an investigation.
• The office referred the complainant
to another complaint-handling body,
such as the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner,
the Inspector General of the Australian
Defence Force or the Australian
Public Service Commission.
Complaint issues
The most common complaint issues in
2015–16 were:
• Redress of Grievance, including delay
in finalising, procedural fairness
and outcome
• discharge, including mode of discharge
and procedural fairness
• allegations of inappropriate conduct
or bias by chain of command or other
ADF members
• decisions regarding a veteran’s
entitlements to pensions, benefits,
and/or access to health care services.
PUBLIC INTEREST
DISCLOSURE SCHEME
Public Interest Disclosure
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act)
provides a mechanism for officials of Australian
Government agencies to report suspected
wrongdoing, providing protections from
reprisal and requiring agencies to respond
to those reports with appropriate action.
Having now been in place for two and a
half years, the PID Act has achieved a level
of maturity. Along with the Inspector-General
of Intelligence and Security (IGIS), the office
has had the opportunity through our oversight
and awareness-raising functions to observe the
bedding down of the scheme. It has become
evident that, as envisaged by the legislation,
the scheme is operating far beyond the APS.
This breadth of operation has posed some
challenges but has also brought benefits to both
APS and non-APS agencies.
The two-year anniversary of the PID
Act prompted a review of the legislation
(in accordance with s 82A). The review took
place between 15 January and 15 July 2016
led by the former Commissioner of Law
Enforcement Integrity, Mr Philip Moss AM,
assisted by a secretariat within the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The review
has been submitted to government but at
the time of writing, the government had not
responded. The office and IGIS contributed
to the review. Many of the issues identified in
our two previous annual reports, and during
this reporting period, were dealt with in our
submission. The office has not canvassed them
further in this report.
PART 4—WHAT WE DO
2015–16 | COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT | 71