Victorian Ombudsman

Had an issue with the SIM provider about keeping the previous phone number. The Ombudsman Douglas solved it in no time. Extremely knowledgeable, friendly and understands you before you even say it. Douglas was able to fix the problem then and there on the spot. Superb customer service.

Useless organisation who doesn't practice what they preach. The ombudsman claims their role is "to keep government and public organisations in check".

If this was truly the case then we would not have seen;

(1) the government being allowed to mandate COVID-19 vaccines against employment, for which is coercion and for vaccines that;
- has demonstrated to not stop transmission of the virus;
- has caused deaths in initial trials;
- has caused deaths in many that have taken them (including Australia) ;
- has caused millions of adverse reactions worldwide (including permanent disability) ;
- has no long term safety data;
- has exempted manufacturers from any liability;
- consists of unproven delivery technologies (i.e. MRNA) ;
- and, requires continual injection due to their poor underlying performance.

(2) the government being allowed to ban the unvaccinated from retail premises in November 2021 not based on any factual scientific reasoning and instead creating a segregated two tiered society.

We can all do good like Fred Hollows group or M Theresa St. Power is for service says Pope Francis. If it's serious or their turn they almost always help. If not there's a Protected Disclosure officer at each hospital as HCC toothless tiger. IBAC gives protection or there's legal help of truth response etc. If neither helps there's Inspectorate and Politics but last very slow. In Jesu Babe Mary's icon bless us virus less Saints Joseph Al Gonzaga SJ we pray

The men at the Victorian Ombudsman Office must choose the young female case worker staff based on low cut tops, and tight skirts. Enough said about the interlect and through work undertaken in this office.

I had a second complaint involving another corrupt Doctor - what happened - nothing. I was sent a survey at tax payers expense - from EY. The rot just continues. They are in on the laugh - they just spin you around, torment you and refer you to other corrupt entities within the Andrews Government. It has absolutely no intentions of ever pursuing your complaints. They will just torment you with endless processes and numerous individuals within the Ombudsman office. Deborah Glass is so busy she can't spare 10 minutes on a zoom call - my complaints have about her office have been going for 2 years now, with nothing resolved. My advice just go straight to the media and hold this office to account.

If you have a serious complaint about a Victorian Government organisation do not contact the Ombudsman office. The organisation has an appropriate leader Deborah "Half" Glass. The glass is definitely half full in this organisation and its underwhelming staff. I have identified a corrupt doctor in a Government process, because I raised his extensive history of corruption over many years this appointment was cancelled on short notice. This was the excuse used not to take any further action by this office. Instead of investigating the root causes and the systematic corruption over many years this was simply ignored and not addressed. With no further investigation required according to them - the rot will just continue apparently a cancelled appointment is good enough and the matter is now resolved and closed - IT ISN'T. However in due course they will release more shiny reports, that any private sector company could prepare at a fraction of the cost saving the long suffering tax payer in Victoria many millions of dollars per year. This is a gutless and spineless organisation with the façade of addressing corruption in Victorian Government Departments - IT DOESN'T. It will use any excuse not to pursue your concerns and throw you under a bus at the earliest opportunity. It inflicts mental torment by using a pack mentality to address your concerns over a long period of time. I have dealt with well over 10 staff, they refuse to be accountable when requesting a copy of the telephone conversation under FOI, yet espouse the highest levels of integrity - HYPOCRITES. It is a shameful waste of tax payers money, that achieves nothing of any note for the community or addressing corruption in our society. A restructure and downgrading is long overdue. The community members affected by this organisation need to get together, and to commence a media inquiry into this unethical organisation. It is simply not good enough. We deserve better. This organisation is an attack on our democracy.

Gutless organisation, can only help with Telecom issues, with all other issues you be wasting time. If your matter is a civil matter or against a government body then best thing to do is seek legal advice from legal aid and take matters directly to court, the ombudsman office is no better than a call centre, do not have high hopes

Horrible organisation. Refuses to investigate serious legal breaches by education sector which resulted in a revoked student visa whilst studying. Will protect interests of industry over everything. Do not trust these people with your experiences, not worth the time and effort.

Edit after response from Victorian Ombudman below: I filed three complaints in 2018. As the matter caused significant emotional and financial distress this still effects me in 2021. I provided more and more evidence as I could not believe the responses from ombudsman reframing my issue and blaiming me as an international student for the education provider not acting according to rules and legislation. An independently reviewed official complaint with the education provider after the three complaints submitted to the ombudsman earlier found what the ombudsman did deny. Hence my statement above. The proof is in de pudding. Do not trust this agency as they will use your shared experience against you to blaim you for the issue. Tip: it was helpfull reading the comments below as there are many more people who experienced a similar biased unhelpfull and traumatic process.

WOW - great reviews guys! Wonder if management take any notice of the service your organisation provides. It does not instill much confidence for us citizens.
I'd add an additional half star if possible. At least, you'll take sometime to read and respond to the reviews. No one knows, if there's any positive outcome!

Although i am not happy with the outcome of my complaint (poor street lighting), i am happy with how the complaint was handled. Excellent telephone communication and in a timely manner. Thank you!

Ombudsman helped me resolve dispute with the Australian Post over lost parcel. Case has been created in my behalf and Australian Post end up proceeding with a full refund (parcel value and cost of postage). I was very pleased with the outcome.

Wont answer phones or emails and when you get the local member to get them to call they belittle you for asking them to do their job, these are NOT public servants, these are the elite and have a very poor view of the public

Total waste of time, they will always call so as not to leave a trail /record keeping, showing there ineptness / incompetence.

Nothing but a human lookup table that references a list of excuses to close a case.
No government employee ever gets fired and the people regulating these unaccountable departments are also unaccountable departments.
By design, the system cannot, nor ever will be able to self-regulate. Vic ombudsmen is mostly just a glorified front, giving people some last semblance of hope that there’s somebody willing to hold people accountable in govt.
My experience with the energy ombudsman was so vastly different, a switched on lady who was intelligent, determined to help and made multiple follow-ups. They are industry funded.

Vic ombudsman are more like scar tissue covered in makeup.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. I waited six months and was handed around to three different people. Absolutely useless.

Their actions do not have even a semblance of an ombudsman, their go to response is: "We can't do anything'. Do not know what the point is for burning tax dollars on this institution

Thus far my experience has not been good. It started off well, with the website having lots of useful information written in plain English, such as an excellent guide to making apologies. The first person we had contact with was fine. Unfortunately, once our complaint went on to a more senior person, the experience went downhill. The person assigned had a terrible phone connection. He also failed to understand the basic facts of our complaint. Trying to discuss anything with him was impossible for both of these reasons. He said things that went against the Ombudsman's own philosophy, like telling me that asking for an apology was "impractical". He refused repeated requests over several months to communicate by email instead of phone, and I had to make a complaint to the Ombudsman complaints to get him to email me.

In the end, I requested my complaint be transferred to someone else, and asked him not to contact me again, because his attitude was making me very uncomfortable. He then used another email address to contact me, hiding who the message was from, and sent a disingenuous message saying that he didn't know why I was requesting a transfer, even though I had clearly stated the reasons several times already to him and to the mystery "complaints" person (who never replies, not even with a single sentence). This made me feel even more uncomfortable. I mean, who does that? At work? At a government department? Frankly, I feel bullied and creeped out. I am phoning determined to speak to his superior on Monday.

The ombudsman's investigations to date have been superficial and I have found their conclusions illogical, unfortunately not addressing the issues raised nor councils actions and compliance with regulations and protocols. Privatising this service to independent professionals or finding an alternative way to make sure Local Councils do not systematically overlook their duties might be a better way forward. Currently our Municipal Councils seem immune from responsibility and this seems like a ticking time bomb when it comes down their role in public risk, enforcement of building acts and planning acts, breaches of planning permits and in administrating and regulating liquor licenses.

IN RESPONSE TO BELOW
My concerns were about public risk and safety. Including the 'unusual' issuing of liquor license of a paddock in FZ zone by a Municipal Council that fuelled extensive event use with no evident planning permission and thus no occupancy permits (in agricultural buildings never designed for events!). These breaches of building and planning acts were unable to be enforced over months and years by Municipal Council due to a 'lack of resources' whilst they simultaneously processed tourist grants for the same venue.

Loss or damage to public life due to overlooking regulations in place to mitigate public risk and protect the surrounding community (yes we are a bushfire prone area with environmental overlays) concern me much more than credit card fraud (as per your examples in the link). Other regulatory and political bodies have advised this is your responsibility. I would encourage you to revisit these two cases to assess negligence and compliance in Municipal Councils actions and protect public risk. Thank you.

They handled my complaint very professionally, from what I understand if you have a genuine problem with a government organisation they do take it seriously

Absolute waste of time as they do nothing and expect you to do the work for them. Another useless govt organisation at taxpayers expense! All I got was excuses about delays due to Covid 19 - a lot of waffle about nothing. The one star ratings indicated by other reviewers are well justified. I found out information which they should have done which proved further HCC's inefficiency. They could not help unless I did the work!