Current interagency agreements

Our legislation allows us to enter into arrangements with other agencies about a range of matters including complaint handling. We also negotiate formal agreements with some agencies about how they will deal with contact by our Office. A complete list of interagency agreements can be found in our Statement of Affairs. These agreements are publicly available and can be obtained by contacting the office.

We categorise these arrangements as follows:

Class and kind agreements

We enter into class or kind determinations with certain agencies when we are satisfied that their investigative practices have reached an acceptable standard and we are confident that these practices will continue. There are legislative provisions that allow us to do this.

Memorandum of understanding

We negotiate a memorandum of understanding with an agency to either ensure clarity of roles in those instances where there may be overlapping jurisdiction or where it is advantageous to document procedures to be followed by agency when responding to our informal investigations and inquiries. A memorandum of understanding can be negotiated under legislative provisions or can be at our discretion.

Click here for a copy of the memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and the Department of Local Goverment.

Click here for a copy of the memorandum of understanding between NSW Ombudsman and Energy and Water Ombudsman.

Information sharing and complaint referral arrangements

From time to time we need to disclose information to another relevant agency that we have received in the course of our work. We have a formal agreement with those relevant agencies that sets the circumstances where we can disclose information. There are legislative provisions that allow us to do this.

Click here for a copy of our information sharing arrangement with Health Care Complaints Commission, Legal Services Commissioner, Anti Discrimination Board and Privacy Commissioner.

From time to time we receive complaints that are either outside our jurisdiction or would be better handled by another complaint handling agency. We have a formal agreement with those relevant agencies that set out the circumstances where we can refer such complaints. There are legislative provisions that allow us to do this. Click here for our complaint referral arrangement.