Archived news
Major overhaul of whistleblower protection laws in NSW
19 Oct 2021
In a report tabled in Parliament today, the NSW Ombudsman has welcomed the introduction of a bill that re-writes the State’s whistleblower-protection laws.
“The willingness of public officials to come forward and report wrongdoing when they see it is essential to maintaining integrity and public confidence,” the Ombudsman, Paul Miller said. “The current law is overly technical and complex. It requires the public official to navigate a legal minefield.”
Falling infant and child mortality rates not equal across NSW
23 Aug 2021
The Biennial report of the deaths of children in New South Wales: 2018 and 2019, incorporating reviewable deaths of children, tabled in Parliament by NSW Ombudsman Paul Miller, details how, over the 15-year period from 2005 to 2019, for infants aged less than 1, mortality rate declined by 30%. For children aged 1 to 17 years, the rate declined by 26%.
New report released - An inherent conflict of interest: councils as developer and regulator
15 Dec 2020
There is inherent potential for conflicts of interest when NSW local councils undertake their own developments, according to a new report by the NSW Ombudsman.
The report An inherent conflict of interest: councils as developer and regulator, tabled in Parliament today by Acting Ombudsman Paul Miller, has found this potential exists because there are no clear guidelines or best-practice approaches for instances when a local council is both the developer as well as being the regulator of that development.
The report also highlights an instance when such a conflict of interest led to unlawful action.