Strategic Priorities
The Ombudsman/Information Commissioner 2020/24 Strategic Priorities were developed to provide guidance and a general framework for our annual business planning.
They are available here:
Strategic Priorities 2020/24 PDF (600.2 KB)
Our Service Standards
The services provided by the Ombudsman aim for the highest quality, to be open to scrutiny and accountable.
As such, the Office has developed a service charter (or Standards) against which our services can be assessed.
These service standards are:
Those we serve
The Ombudsman’s stakeholders are:
- Community members of the Northern Territory
- Government Agencies and Statutory Authorities
- Local Government Councils
- The Northern Territory Police Fire & Emergency Services
- The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Our commitment
The Ombudsman and staff are committed to the following core values:
- Fairness: We are independent and impartial. We respond to complaints without bias. We give everyone the chance to have their say. We do not take sides.
- Integrity: We take action and make decisions based on our independent assessment of the facts, the law and the public interest.
- Respect: We act with courtesy and respect. We recognise and respect diversity. We seek to make our services accessible and relevant to everyone. We consider the impact of our actions on others.
- Professionalism: We perform our work with a high degree of expertise and diligence.
- Accountability: We are open about how and why we do things. We are responsive and deal with matters in a timely manner. We allocate priorities and undertake our work so that the best use is made of public resources.
Our expectations of you
We ask that you:
- Treat us with respect and courtesy
- Be clear and frank in your dealings with us
- Provide us with as much relevant information as possible when requested so that we can serve you better
- Keep us informed of any new developments that have a bearing on your complaint
What we cannot do
We cannot:
- Provide legal advice or representation; or
- Act as an advocate
- Investigate complaints that go beyond our jurisdiction;
- Cancel or overturn infringement notices;
- Remove credit listings;
- Challenge the decisions of Ministers, Courts or the DPP.
For information on alternate complaint handling bodies go to:
Not sure where to lodge your complaint?
Feedback on our performance
We are committed to performing our statutory functions at the highest level and are always looking for ways to improve.
We monitor and review our performance regularly and conduct complainant feedback and satisfaction surveys.
We welcome comments and suggestions for improvement and will work to resolve any grievance you may have about the quality of our performance or conduct.
If you have an issue with the way our office is handling or has handled a complaint or enquiry, you should first raise it with the Ombudsman Officer assigned to deal with your matter.
If you still think the issue needs to be raised at a higher level, please put your concern in writing addressed to the Deputy Ombudsman.
Privacy Statement
The Information Privacy Principles, as scheduled to the Northern Territory Information Act, protect the privacy of personal information held by Government by ensuring that it may only collect information necessary for its functions, activities and services. The Information Act is available online.
The Territory Government and its service providers value the privacy of every individual’s personal information. (Personal information is government information from which a person’s identity is apparent or is reasonably able to be ascertained.) We are committed to protecting user privacy.
We do not collect personal information through the use of cookies, or other information-collection technologies. However we do use a website management tool which records:
- the type of browser you are using
- your traffic patterns through our site
- the date and time of your visit to the site
- the pages you accessed and documents downloaded
- the previous page you visited prior to accessing our site
- the internet address of the server accessing our site
This information is used for website and system administration, including customisation of the website to an individual, and research and development. Information will not be disclosed to a third party, unless required by law or otherwise stated.
Visitors may supply, on a voluntary basis, additional personal information when:
- participating in online forums, surveys and chat rooms
- posting information on bulletin boards
- completing nomination and application forms etc
- requesting information via email
We do not add any details from your email to a mailing list unless you have specifically requested that we do this. We do not disclose these details to third parties without your consent unless required by law. We do disclose your email details to the relevant authorities if necessary to protect the safety of the public or to protect the rights and property of the Northern Territory. Our Internet Service Provider may monitor email traffic for system trouble shooting and maintenance purposes only.
This website contains links to other Government and non-Government organisations which may use other monitoring tools or collect and manage information via methods other than those described above. Visitors are advised to check the privacy statements on the relevant web site.
If you have any queries about our website privacy and security practices please contact: nt.ombudsman@nt.gov.au