The Office of the South Australian Ombudsman (now known as Ombudsman SA) was created to deal with complaints against State Government agencies.

Its four primary focuses are:

Misconduct in public administration is defined as an intentional and serious contravention of a code of conduct by a public officer, while acting in their capacity as a public officer, that constitutes a ground for disciplinary action against the officer [Ombudsman Act 1972 (SA) s 4(1)].

Maladministration in public administration is defined as:

[Ombudsman Act 1972 (SA) s 4(2)]

Not all government agencies fall within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. For example, complaints against the Police (see Complaints against police) and complaints against judicial officers (see Complaints against Judges and other judicial officers) are not dealt with by the Ombudsman’s office.

Any person can make a complaint about public administration if it relates to alleged misconduct or maladministration in public administration.

In other cases, before a complaint can be investigated there are five conditions that must be satisfied:

The South Australian Ombudsman has additional powers to enter premises and to inspect documents and may, where it appears to be in the interests of an agency or the public, publish a report which will be referred to the relevant Minister. Under s 14A of the Ombudsman Act 1972 the Ombudsman also has the power to conduct a review of the administrative practices and procedures of an agency if it is in the public interest to do so.

Legislation