Queensland Ombudsman

I have found the State Ombudsman's office to be absolutely wonderful. Their care and patience in traversing the corruption between legal professionals and cancelling grants that were 'favours' was amazing and they actioned it the same day and followed thru amazingly. I wish I could say the same for the Commonwealth Ombudsman who I have found to be completely unprofessional and undeserving of the positions they hold. Special thank you to you Bridget ... they are so lucky to have you. k

I had a dispute with TPG for a refund. TPG had been wasting my time for 2 months, I called the ombudsman, explained the situation, the person I spoke to listened to my case in a calm manner. 2 days after I finally received a reasonable reply from TPG, thanks to the ombudsman intervention. Thank you for the support and diligence

I personally believe they are nice, they helped me get $700 from Suncorp, I just collected all the evidence, they helped me. Just a little bit long time of waiting but thats suncorp's internal problem.

Helpful, polite, provided me all the information I needed.

Very poor service the 2 girls I spoke to one after the other seemed to not understand situations at all and acted very unprofessionally. I am about to literally move states due to the Queensland government and their absolutely appalling treatment of the community. My issue was local council related GCCC and it's just easier to move states if this is what Queensland has to offer I'm going back to NSW

"The Queensland Ombudsman can make recommendations to rectify unlawful, unfair or unreasonable decisions and improve administrative practices as prescribed by the Ombudsman Act (Qld) 2001." However it chooses not to on most occasions.

If your complaint is about a QLD government department, there is no point pursuing the matter with the QLD Ombudsman. The majority of outcomes side with the QLD state government. Given the QLD Ombudsman is meant to be the impartial body that objectively reviews complaints, QLD Ombudsman completely fails at their very reason for existence. I have spent over two years pursuing complaints with a couple of govt departments who denied responsibility for wrongdoing, even though their actions violated legislation and were inconsistent with their own practice manuals. The complaints processes only looked at evidence that supported their claims and ignored all evidence to the contrary, so I put the matter to the QLD Ombudsman.
The outcome of my complaint with the Ombudsman was that the QLD Ombudsman decided my matter “didn’t warrant further investigation,” even though on the phone the officer acknowledged they were unable to verify that the Department in question used correct procedures. She also acknowledged that there were aspects of my complaint that had not been addressed in the department’s complaint process and she referred me back to the original department and told me to raise the complaint again – isn’t that supposed to be why the Ombudsman is there? QLD Ombudsman made their finding based on a ridiculous notion that I had opportunity to clarify the information with the department in question, despite my complaint being about this very fact: that I repeatedly asked for the information I was entitled to (including documentation that I was supposed to have signed) and I was repeatedly denied or given misinformation. QLD Ombudsman then said Department's responses to my complaint were reasonable given this.

Looking at the Annual Report 2021-2022, 6669 complaints made it through the Ombudsman gatekeeping process (from over 10K contacts). Of these, they only investigated 1106 of these (most of the time they called the complaint “premature” meaning they refer you back to the Department in question, which invariably involves lengthy procedures which involve departments denying responsibility or even outright lying about their actions. QLD govt departments are experts at denying complaints.) Of 1106 investigated complaints, there were 123 complaints where rectifications were found to be required. There were 540 complaints found to have “no error identified”. There were a further 400 found to have “no further investigation warranted”. Basically, as with my complaint, this means they found some flimsy reason to not pursue the matter, possibly as there was a serious breach by a government department that they do not want to acknowledge or possibly simply they do not value any evidence put forward by members of the public against government records (which in my case were falsified in the notes).

Given my horrendous experiences with QLD state govt departments (5 were involved), I know there are more than 123 cases in a year where the public service gets it wrong. The QLD Ombudsman, who is supposed to be the objective voice for the public in an inherently unfair process which favours what public servants have recorded over anything a member of the public has to say, fails in providing any fairness or ensuring that QLD public service is held to account. Public servants are completely protected in the vast majority of cases. Do not expect fairness or objectivity from this department, nor any Queensland state government department. Queenslanders have no voice against whatever the government wants to record about you.
Finally, note that any of the favourable reviews listed here are generally related to financial institutions, which the Queensland Office of the Ombudsman does not investigate. The terrible Google rating is actually overinflated.

I attempted to raise an issue about Translink holding on to money on my expired GoCard for an undetermined time (probably at least six weeks) and not transferring it to a replacement card "due to processing procedures and bank verification", etc. The ombudsman spokesperson took issue with me when I challenged her on her recalcitrant and unhelpful attitude. She essentially told me I had to abide by the Translink process and refused to discuss my concerns further, then terminated the call telling me she did not like me 'insinuating' that she was unhelpful. I asked what she meant by insinuating and she cut me off. Very good form and most helpful!

The truth is they are there as window dressing so it appears to the world we have a just and caring society, when in truth they are simply there to protect the Government body you are complaning about. Shocking waste of taxpayers money, even when they know you are right, they won't help you.

It was week 8 into a Uni unit. The lecturer decided that the chapters we had done for weeks 5, 6 & 7 were now obsolete and would need to be done again. Anyone who has studied online will know that you would have no time to redo the three chapters. I requested my money back for the unit and the Uni refused. To me the University had provided me with a faulty unit that was not my fault. I found out that Universities come under a semi government umbrella, they are self regulated and self accredited. In other words, they make their own rules. Only option was the Ombudsman in your state. I asked the Ombudsman if they had any authority to enforce anything. The Ombudsman advised me they could not enforce anything. So I asked the Ombudsman's office. What is the point in making a complaint if you can't do anything about it? They got angry and hung up because my question was too difficult. I would still like to know what is the point of an Ombudsman if they have no authority?

Have a look at the response. They still didn't answer the question. Details of individual cases is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you explain your ability to enforce anything. The answer is that the Ombudsman is a waste of time with no authority. Explain what authority you have to enforce something?

These people are a complete waste of taxpayers money. They behaved towards me like a bunch of arrogant, condescending princesses who would decide whether or not to provide assistance depending on their whim. Queensland public servants are very fond of saying that they pay taxes too, however the employees of the Office of the Queensland Ombudsman do not pay enough taxes to pay for their own worthless existence. After my personal experience with them I would recommend you head straight for a lawyer rather than hoping for assistance from this bunch of arrogant public trough snufflers.

Waste of time these guys don’t want to help any business I suggest don’t bother to call as they back Telstra

Total waste of tax payer money. Apparently corruption is only corruption if it directly affects you - so speeding should only be speeding if it directly affects you along with every other act or offence. No surprises that organisations both government and private do and will continue to behave in a corrupt manner.

My communal reputation was completely ruined after I complained to the Queensland Ombudsman about my local council. Council began neglecting services to public property I regularly use, enforcing much stricter entry rules, making counter complaints about me to other community members, and finally pulled my favourite activity from their official program book. Ombudsman staff did not care about the sacrifices I made to uphold my civic duty to report maladministration, and disregarded valid evidence I provided to support my claims. Once I realised I had completely lost, I did the only thing I could to salvage the last of my wrecked reputation – withdraw my complaint. I wish I knew reprisals would happen. I also wish I never contacted the Ombudsman and will make sure I never, ever repeat this mistake again ...

I contacted the fair trading office in Qld after a mixer tap which has a minimum warranty of 10 years became loose within 15 months. I live alone and it had below average usage. I thought the plumber (Plumbers Queensland) would be happy to rectify their error. I contacted them and told them the problem and asked that they come and tighten the tap when they were in the area for another job. The owner of the business finally contacted me and said I would have to pay for the work. Other plumbers guarantee their work for up to 5 years and the tap itself had a warranty of at least 10 years. I could not specifically ascertain the warranty on the tap provided as the plumber stated he had no record of which brand of tap was installed. I took the matter to the Fair Trading office and was astounded by their pathetic efforts to get a fair result for a consumer. Without doing any research they appeared to just accept the rubbish told to them by the owner of the plumbing business. This despite the actual evidence to the contrary. If all taps have at least a ten year warranty then the installation was faulty or the tap was faulty in either case the plumber had rectify his work or replace the faulty tap as he was the retailer of this product. After going back and forward with the Fair Trading officer and getting nowhere I was then told I needed to take the matter to QCAT. Like so many others that have had to deal with the office of "Fair Trading" I have to ask why taxpayer money is wasted and why these people shouldn't be queuing up for centrelink payments.

Won't deal with any complaints. Referred my complaints about the housing department back to them over and over so they could 'investigate themselves'- what a joke! Even after YEARS of pleading with the ombudsman to help me while I paid to 'live' in an unlivable property I had no option to leave due to the shortage of wheelchair accessible housing, they refused and refused and refused to intervene with the housing department. This group do not do their job and allow corruption to continue. Disgusted that these people are paid to sit there and refuse to do their job. Absolutely disgusted.

Not very good at understanding complex situations despite the evidence being laid out in front of them. Would have been happier if they just rejected my complaint instead of wasting 8 months with it. If you have the funds resolve it with a lawyer or QCAT. I paid a little bit extra but they got the job done within a month.

This is a tax payer funded department that should investigate and prosecute any conduct that is Unfair, Unreasonable, and Discriminatory by any Queensland Gov't Department, Bureaucrat', or entity such as TAFE (QLD) that does not meet the thresholds and standards that they promote, and that the public expect and pay for. Given overwhelming evidence regarding TAFE (QLD) systematic misleading and misrepresenting information regarding the outcomes and standards of their overpriced, and sub standard Associate Degree Courses, the Qld Ombudsman chose to ignore substantial evidence in favour of turning it back on all of the students who pay more than University fees to be enticed into a TAFE (QLD) Dodgy Degree. TAFE(QLD) simply denied everything, irrespective of the evidence against them, this so called investigation ended there. At best The Qld Ombudsman is a waste of taxpayers money, it is not unreasonable to question what there real function is. This is Unfair, Unlawful, Unreasonable, and Discriminatory. Why not be open and honest with the public. It appears that the regulator now need to be investigated. The public have a right to be outraged by this complete and blatant disrespect by an organisation that should uphold integrity not humour the public with its theatre.