ADELAIDE: The Sarawak Ombudsman’s Office continued its working visit to Australia with a knowledge-sharing session at the South Australian Ombudsman’s Office here, focusing on public complaints management and good governance practices.
The two-hour session centred on the approaches adopted by the South Australian Ombudsman in managing public complaints and on best practices in public sector governance.
The Sarawak delegation was led by Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman), Datuk Murshid DiRaja Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya, and included Sarawak Chief Ombudsman, Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafur Shariff, fellow ombudsmen and officers from the Sarawak Ombudsman’s Office, who were warmly received by South Australian Ombudsman, Emily Strickland.
The meeting enabled both sides to exchange views on strategies for handling public complaints, particularly mechanisms for managing high-impact cases, the use of technological innovation in complaints handling and investigations, and measures to strengthen public confidence in government institutions.
Discussions also underscored the importance of international collaboration among ombudsman institutions to enhance capacity-building and training, especially among Commonwealth jurisdictions with similar Westminster-based administrative systems, including Sarawak.
The visit forms part of the Sarawak Government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen transparent, ethical and accountable governance, in line with the implementation of the Sarawak Ombudsman Ordinance 2023 and the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, which emphasises an efficient public service and protection of citizens’ rights.
The Sarawak Ombudsman’s Office expressed confidence that exposure to the South Australian Ombudsman’s model for managing public complaints will serve as an important reference in improving the quality and effectiveness of its own complaints management services for the benefit of the people.
For the record, the South Australian Ombudsman’s Office, established in 1972, was initially tasked with handling complaints against government agencies, including investigations into maladministration and misconduct.
Its role has since expanded to include reviewing appeals related to Freedom of Information (FOI) decisions in South Australia.
