Our role
Our role is established under these acts:
Ombudsman Act 2001 (Ombudsman Act)
- give people a timely, effective and independent way to have administrative actions of agencies investigated
- improve the quality of decision-making and administrative practice in government agencies
Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 (PID Act)
- review the management of public interest disclosures, provide education and advice to agencies as the oversight agency
Inspector of Detention Services Act 2022 (IDS Act)
- promote the humane treatment of detainees and the prevention of harm through reviews, inspections and independent reporting.
Under the Ombudsman Act, we investigate complaints about the actions and decisions of Queensland agencies. We use the word ‘agencies’ to describe all of the Queensland state government departments, local councils and public authorities that we can investigate. Our complaints assessment and investigation service is free and independent.
Sometimes agencies use non-government entities to deliver services to the community. We can also investigate those entities.
The Ombudsman is accountable to parliament, rather than the government of the day. No one can direct:
- how our investigations should be conducted
- whether we should or should not investigate particular complaints
- the level of priority we give to investigations.
The only exception is when parliament or a parliamentary committee refers matters to us for investigation.
Learn more about what we can investigate and what to expect if you make a complaint to us.
As well as assessing and investigating complaints, we also work with state government departments , local councils and public universities to improve their decision-making and administrative practices by:
Learn more about our: