Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP)GENERAL OUTLINE
1. This Bill would amend the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Ombudsman Act) and the Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003 (IGT Act) to implement the Government's response to recommendations 21.1 and 21.2 of the Report of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme (the Royal Commission).
2. The Bill would bolster the powers and capability of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (Ombudsman) and the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) by:
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- imposing a statutory duty on agency heads and their staff to use their best endeavours to assist the Ombudsman and the IGTO in the performance of all their functions (recommendation 21.1)
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- enhancing the Ombudsman's and IGTO's powers to obtain full, free and direct access to agency records by introducing a provision equivalent to section 33(3) of the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Auditor-General Act), requiring agencies to provide all reasonable facilities and assistance (recommendation 21.2).
3. These amendments would strengthen and modernise the oversight powers of the Ombudsman and the IGTO and complement their existing information-gathering and investigatory powers. The amendments would also reinforce the responsibility of government agencies, and every member of the public service, to engage with integrity and good faith in their dealings with oversight bodies, whilst ensuring that the Ombudsman and the IGTO have effective means to access the information they need to conduct full and independent investigations.
4. These amendments would apply to any investigations on foot after commencement of the Bill to ensure the full strengthened suite of oversight powers are available to the Ombudsman and IGTO immediately.
5. In addition to implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission, the Bill would enhance the efficiency and operation of a range of oversight mechanisms by:
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- modernising and enhancing the investigatory powers of the Ombudsman and IGTO by providing a power to obtain access to documents and other records by remote means, with a corresponding requirement for agencies to provide reasonable facilities and assistance to the Ombudsman and IGTO in the exercise of this power
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- extending the new and enhanced duties and powers contained in the Bill to apply to all statutory offices held by the Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act – including, for example, the Defence Force Ombudsman (DFO) and the Overseas Students Ombudsman (OSO)
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- amending the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986 (IGIS Act) to clarify that the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence (IGIS) is entitled to reasonable facilities and assistance when making preliminary inquiries of the head of an intelligence agency
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- making technical amendments to the Ombudsman Act to clarify provisions and improve readability of that Act.
6. Amendments in the Bill would ensure that oversight bodies, particularly the Ombudsman and IGTO, are strongly positioned to undertake independent, impartial and rigorous investigations into government agencies' dealings with the community. In doing so, the Bill is intended to improve trust in public administration and ensure that government agencies meet community expectations to engage with oversight bodies with integrity, accountability and transparency.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
7. The Bill has no direct financial impact. However, the Government committed $2.3 million over four years from 2023-24 (ongoing) to the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to provide additional capacity to handle complaints and undertake investigations of systemic issues, as part of its response to the Royal Commission.