The Ombudsman, Ms Emily Strickland, reported that the past financial year has seen a renewed focus on accessible, timely complaint resolution, with the early resolution rate increasing by nearly 30 per cent from the previous year, and complaints resolved through formal resolution or conciliation processes more than doubling.

“Resolved outcomes include systemic improvements to agency policy and practice as well as fairer decisions for individuals”, Ms Strickland said.

Ms Strickland also reported that her Office has 43 matters under investigation as at 30 June 2025, an almost four-fold increase from the previous year.

“This significant increase has resulted from the robust application of our public interest criteria which ensures we investigate serious and systemic matters, directing our resources to where they will make the greatest impact”, Ms Strickland said.

“Matters under investigation involve systemic issues in public administration or integrity issues that, if left unaddressed, could compromise public trust in Government.”

Allegations of integrity breaches increased by 10 per cent during the year, many relating to the conduct of local government elected members. Ms Strickland recorded her concern with this trend as well as her commitment to formally investigating alleged breaches of the Local Government Act 1999.

In highlighting her function to review agency Freedom of Information (FOI) Act decisions, the Ombudsman reported that in the past financial year, 95 determinations were issued, and 19 external review applications and 17 FOI complaints were resolved.

“While agencies appeared to be processing FOI applications efficiently, nearly half of the external review determinations issued in 2024-25 varied or reversed agency decisions, meaning agencies had not been as transparent as the legislation requires them to be”, Ms Strickland said.

“This trend is consistent with previous years and affirms our ongoing commitment to educate agencies about their FOI obligations.”

The Ombudsman’s Office elevated education and outreach activities during the reporting period;  educating agencies to promote fairness, integrity and transparency in public administration will continue to be a strong focus for the Office moving forward.

The Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 2024-25 can be found at www.ombudsman.sa.gov.au/publications/annual-reports.