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8 May 2008

Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW

In November last year, the Government announced the creation of a Special Commission of inquiry into the child protection system in NSW. Since that time, our office has provided a number of submissions relevant to our work, as well as attending several of the Commission’s public sessions. Our submissions, listed below, are available at the Commission’s submissions webpage:

• Part 1: The Children’s Court
• Part 2: Oversight agencies
• Part 2b: Response to DoCS’ submission on the role of oversight agencies
• Part 3: Privacy and exchange of information

 

1 May 2008

Youth Week 2008 Competition

As part of the 2008 Youth Week activities, the Ombudsman invited legal studies students from schools across the state to answer, in a 100 words or less, "Why is it important for young people to have access to the NSW Ombudsman?"

Gabrielle Yeomans from  Stella Maris College, Manly sent in the following entry to win herself a Nintendo Wii.

youth (noun)
1 young person. 2 not always believed. 3 inexperienced. 4 easily misled by others. 5 unaware of their rights. 6 unequipped to deal with legal process and complaints. 7 vulnerable to those in authority.

ombudsman (noun)
1 government watchdog. 2 independent body. 3 unbiased. 4 educator. 5 listener. 6 assist youths, (and other persons) in the investigation of complaints against government bodies.

importance of access (noun)
1 fundamental right and opportunity to be heard. 2 solves issues in appropriate and structured forum. 3 may help others in similar positions. 4 identify problems within organisations and individuals. 5 satisfaction.

Congratulations Gabrielle and well done to all those who entered.

 

10 April 2008

Guidelines for dealing with youth complaints

Complaint systems are often designed by and for adults and can be intimidating and confusing for young people. For this reason, NSW Ombudsman developed guidelines and a training program for our staff to improve the service they provide to young people that access our office.

As part of Youth Week, we developed Guidelines for Dealing with Youth Complaints and distributed the guidelines to state and national organisations, including other watchdog agencies.“Young people have a voice that should be heard and opinions that should be considered. I hope that these guidelines will help agencies to more effectively engage with young people and as a result not only improve their practices but also make better and more inclusive decisions,” stated the Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour.

To access a copy of the guidelines, click on the link below:

Guidelines for dealing with youth complaints

 

25 February 2008

2008 Corruption Prevention Network Awards

 The Corruption Prevention Network issues annual awards for excellence in corruption prevention and detection. Our organisation is an ex-officio member of the CPN organising committee.

For 2008, nominations are available in two categories:

• Corruption prevention tool or technique –this category recognises the development, implementation and /or application of a specific tool or technique by an organisation
• Corruption prevention program – this category recognises the implementation of a suite of corruption resistance strategies in an integrated fashion within organisations.

The awards are open to all organisations including public and private businesses, not for profit organisations and state local and commonwealth government agencies.

The awards will be announced at the CPN Forum on 11 September 2008 in Sydney where the winners will showcase their innovative strategies.

The Nomination Guide contains further information about the awards and a detailed template for applying for an award. Nominations close Friday 11 July 2008.

 

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