Home > Contents > Chapter 9 - External scrutiny

External scrutiny

Section 1 - Introduction
Section 2 - Formal complaints, appeals and other legal matters
Section 3 - Freedom of information
Section 4 - Audit reports
Section 5 - Parliamentary scrutiny
Section 6 - Our service charter

Section 1 – Introduction

The department and its performance are scrutinised in a variety of ways. People who are not satisfied with decisions made by the department can seek review through several avenues such as the Ombudsman or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Those who have questions or complaints about the service provided by or on behalf of the department can, under our Service Charter, raise them through the Service Charter Bureau or related call centres. In addition, Parliamentary committees or other agencies such as the Australian National Audit Office may undertake investigations into or make reports on specific issues. This Chapter reports on these different forms of scrutiny.

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Section 2 – Formal complaints, appeals and other legal matters

Complaints to the Ombudsman

During 2001-02, the Ombudsman received 41 complaints about the department. He finalised 39 complaints, covering 40 separate issues. Of the issues finalised during 2001-02, 13 were investigated and the Ombudsman found arguable agency defect in four of these issues.

Compensation for Detriment for Defective Administration Scheme

This scheme allows people adversely affected by the maladministration of a Commonwealth agency to receive compensation when they have no legal redress. The department made no payments under this scheme in 2001-02.

Settlement of Legal Claims against the Commonwealth

In accordance with Legal Services Directions issued by the Attorney-General, and on the basis that there was a meaningful prospect of liability, the department made a payment to one individual during 2001-02 by way of settlement of a claim without resort to litigation.

Supreme Court of New South Wales, Supreme Court of Victoria & Supreme Court of Queensland

In 2000-01, proceedings involving the Commonwealth as represented by the department were instituted in the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning claims for non-payment of new apprentice incentive payments. The department is disputing liability and the proceedings are continuing.

In 2000-01, the Commonwealth as represented by the department instituted proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court to enforce a mortgage in favour of the Commonwealth. The mortgagee’s application to have the mortgage set aside has not yet been determined by the Court.

In 1999-2000, proceedings involving the Commonwealth as represented by the department and the Australian Institute of Marine Science were instituted in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The proceedings concern allegations of negligence and/or breach of statutory duty arising out of a death by drowning. The proceedings are continuing.

High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and Federal Magistrates Court

In 2000-01, the Full Court of the Federal Court rejected an appeal against a decision of Justice Moore dismissing claims of racial discrimination made against a departmental employee, the former Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, and another. The applicant’s application for leave to appeal to the High Court was rejected by the High Court in 2001-02.

In 2001-02, the Federal Court heard proceedings brought against the Commonwealth with respect to allegations of the development of psychiatric illness concerning alleged exposure of the applicant to ionising radiation at Maralinga in the late 1950s. The Court has not yet handed down its decision. Three other applications concerning alleged exposure to ionising radiation relating to British nuclear tests at Maralinga and the Monte Bello Islands in the late 1950s are currently before the Federal Court. None of these matters have yet gone to trial.

In 2001-02, the Federal Court dismissed an application brought against the Commonwealth and the former Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs alleging that the Higher Education Workplace Reform Programme amounts to coercive conduct in breach of section 170NC of the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

During 2001-02, Federal Magistrates’ Court proceedings brought by an applicant for review of a decision by a departmental decision-maker to terminate the applicant’s employment for misconduct under the Public Service Act 1922 and the Public Service Act 1999 were settled.

During 2001-02, an applicant discontinued their application to the Federal Magistrates’ Court. The application was for review of a decision by a departmental decision-maker that the applicant had breached the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct.

Higher Education Contribution Scheme and Open Learning Deferred Payment Scheme - remission of debts

Under the Higher Education Funding Act 1988, the Secretary, or a delegate of the Secretary, can remit debts relating to either of these schemes for students in special circumstances. This can include circumstances such as those related to illness, work or personal reasons. If remission is not granted, the student can seek a review and subsequently can appeal the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Secretary, or delegate, can reconsider an application to take into account any new information provided to the Tribunal.

During 2001-02, 3448 applications for remission of debts relating to either scheme were received. The list of outcomes of these applications also includes 594 cases remaining from 2000-01:

During 2001-02, 375 applications for review of primary remission decisions were received. The list also includes 52 cases remaining from 2000-01:

During 2001-02, 20 new applications were made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for reviews of decisions. Of these, 16 cases were finalised. Of the finalised cases:

As at 30 June 2002, nine cases remained under consideration at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

During 2001-02, six applications for reconsideration of review decisions made by the Secretary, or delegate, were received. The following list of outcomes of these applications also includes cases remaining from 2000-01:

ABSTUDY

During 2001-02, the Social Security Appeals Tribunal made 19 decisions relating to ABSTUDY. Of these decisions:

Assistance for Isolated Children

During 2001-02, the Social Security Appeals Tribunal made no decisions relating to the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.

AUSTUDY - Social Security Appeals Tribunal

The Social Security Appeals Tribunal is an independent body established to review decisions under the Social Security Act 1991 and the Student Assistance Act 1973. This includes decisions relating to AUSTUDY and the financial supplement for tertiary students.

The AUSTUDY scheme was abolished on 30 June 1998 and was replaced by two schemes - the Youth Allowance and Austudy for those over 25. The Department of Family and Community Services administers both of these new schemes. However, the department retains programme and policy responsibility for AUSTUDY matters before 1 July 1998.

In 2001-02, the Social Security Appeals Tribunal made 263 decisions relating to AUSTUDY (this includes decisions made by the Tribunal in relation to Youth Allowance and Austudy for those over 25). Two further matters were withdrawn by the applicant. Of the 263 decisions:

AUSTUDY - Administrative Appeals Tribunal

In 2001-02, one appeal against decisions made by the Social Security Appeals Tribunal relating to AUSTUDY entitlements from before 1 July 1998 was submitted to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Three outstanding cases were finalised by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of which:

Education Services for Overseas Students

Under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000, the Minister, or a delegate of the Minister, can impose a range of sanctions on registered providers of education to overseas students for breaches of the Act or the National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training for Overseas Students. These sanctions include cancelling or suspending a registered provider’s registration for all courses for one or more states, and imposing conditions upon the registered provider’s registration for one or more courses for one or more states.

During 2001-02, one registered provider had conditions imposed on their registration for two courses in one state, one registered provider had conditions imposed on their registration for eight courses in one state, four registered providers had their registration suspended for all courses in one state and two registered providers had their registration cancelled for all courses one state. Of these one registered provider had one of the conditions imposed on their registration removed and one registered provider had their suspension lifted.

Registered providers may appeal such decisions to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. During 2001-02, no applications were made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by affected registered providers.

During 2001-02, 124 registered providers had their registration automatically suspended or cancelled. Of these:

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

During 2001-02, the department provided a response to one complaint relating to allegations that a departmental employee had been discriminated against on the basis of her sex. This matter was still as at 30 June, 2002 under consideration by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Federal Privacy Commissioner

The Privacy Commissioner did not refer any complaints to the department during 2001-02. The privacy rights of individual clients are safeguarded in contracts entered into with service providers, for example Jobs Pathway Providers and New Apprenticeships Centres. These contracts specifically prohibit providers from breaching the information privacy principles contained in section 14 of the Privacy Act 1988.

The Privacy Commissioner made no reports to the Minister in accordance with section 30 and no determinations under section 52 of the Act.

In May 2001 the Federal Privacy Commissioner initiated a follow up audit of the websites maintained by Government agencies in order to assess progress with compliance with the Commissioner’s Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government World Wide Websites. A total of 11 of the department’s websites were audited and the results were conveyed to the Secretary of the department in August 2001. Some minor shortcomings were identified, which the department has addressed. The department also has quality assurance processes to regularly monitor existing and new departmental websites to ensure that they remain privacy compliant.

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Section 3 – Freedom of information

In 2001-02, the department handled 27 freedom of information requests. Of these, 14 were granted in full or in part, five of the requests were refused, four were withdrawn and four were outstanding at 30 June 2002.

Further data and information on the department’s freedom of information processes, including contact details for enquiries, are available in Appendix 3.

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Section 4 – Audit Reports

Reports by the Auditor-General

In 2001-02 the Australian National Audit Office tabled one report in Parliament that made recommendations directly referring to the department’s operations. The report was:

In addition, the Australian National Audit office tabled 16 reports in Parliament that made recommendations relevant to the department’s operations. Those reports were:

Details of these reports can be found on the Australian National Audit Office web site at http://www.anao.gov.au/.

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Section 5 – Parliamentary scrutiny

Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit Reports

In 2001-02 the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit tabled one report in Parliament that made service-wide recommendations relevant to the department’s operations. The report was:

Details of this report can be found on the Australian Parliament web site at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jpaa/.

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Section 6 – Our service charter

The department’s Service Charter is a central part of our focus on client service. It outlines what we do, our vision, purpose, service charter commitments and standards. The Service Charter also encourages feedback, including complaints.

You can get a copy of our Service Charter:

The Service Charter Bureau supports the Service Charter. People can use the Bureau to make enquiries by phone, email, fax or letter. They can enquire about the department’s services, provide feedback or make complaints.

The department also runs a number of programme-specific lines. These include:

Lines the department was responsible for until December 2001, and which now fall under the Department of Family and Community Services portfolio include:

During 2001-02, the department’s service lines handled approximately 133 860 calls:

The department supports its commitment to service quality by reviewing the Service Charter annually and monitoring the performance of each of the service centre lines.

During 2001-02, the Service Charter Bureau received a total of 7688 calls. The average time taken to answer calls was 17 seconds. The Bureau received 23 complaints, the same number as last year.

The National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition Hotline received 8275 calls. It recorded an average of 12 seconds for answering calls. The majority of calls were related to skills and occupations.

The New Apprenticeships Referral Line received 69 961 calls. It recorded an average of 12 seconds for answering calls.

The Higher Education Contribution Scheme/Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme enquiry line received 45 632 calls during the reporting year, an almost two-fold increase from the previous year. Approximately one quarter of all calls received related to the recently introduced Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme.

The New Apprenticeships Client Support Line received 357 calls. Of these, there were 72 complaints, which is a 17 per cent decrease compared with last year. The majority of calls were referred to New Apprenticeship Centres. State Office Contract Managers promptly responded to resolve these complaints. The average time for answering calls for the year was 12 seconds.

The Rehabilitation and Radioactive Waste Management and the Cooperative Research Centre lines received about 650 and 1300 calls respectively for the reporting period.

Our Stakeholder Relationship Charter

As part of the department’s commitment to foster an open, inclusive and consultative organisation a Stakeholder Relationship Charter entitled, Open for Business has been developed. The Charter was sent to the department’s key stakeholders in April.

The department is also in the process of conducting benchmark research on the department’s stakeholder relationships. The research, which began in April, aims to explore the complex, multi-level relationships the department has with selected key stakeholders and the nature and standing of our stakeholder relationships and levels of satisfaction.

The department intends to use this information to explore stakeholder relationship barriers that currently exist in order to recommend activities and strategies to overcome these barriers and improve stakeholder relationships.

The department will report on the outcomes of its stakeholder research against its Stakeholder Relationship Charter in the next Annual Report.

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