Primary persons and entities affected by the Act are detainees, responsible officers and service providers at places of detention, the inspector (the Ombudsman), officers of the ombudsman, various chief executives and commissioners of government services, health and education agencies, parliament and the public.
Detainees: the Act applies directly to detainees in the places of detention listed at s 6 and to persons who were detainees for certain information requests (see s 13’s definition “detainee includes a former detainee”). The inspector has powers to speak privately with detainees (s 15(1)(b)), inspect records about detainees (s 15(1)(c)), and must have regard to cultural background, vulnerability and child trauma considerations when inspections/reviews are relevant to particular detainees (s 8(2), s 9(6)-(7)). Detainees and former detainees are also potential sources of information and may be the subject of referrals to other entities under s 20.
Responsible officers and service providers: persons employed or engaged to provide detention services (s 5) bear primary compliance duties. The inspector may require provision of information and attendance (s 12), request particular persons (chief executives, health service CEOs, education service providers) to give relevant information (s 13), require reasonable help from persons involved in providing detention services (s 16) and may enter places of detention and require access to all parts and to talk to any detainee at any time (s 14). Failure to comply with a valid requirement under s 12, s 14(3) or s 16(3) attracts a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units (s 12(3), s 14(4), s 16(3)). Responsible officers are also given a show-cause opportunity before a matter is referred to the relevant responsible Minister (s 17).
Public sector agencies named in the Act are directly affected. The Act specifically contemplates arrangements and interaction with:
- chief executive (corrective services) (s 18, s 24(7)(c));
- commissioner of the police service (s 18, s 24(7)(d));
- chief executive of the department administering Youth Justice Act 1992 (s 18, s 24(7)(e));
- health service chief executives and health department chief executives (s 13, s 18);
- the Department of Education chief executive (as an example in s 18).
These agencies are not only subjects of inspection; they are also potential cooperating partners for arrangements under s 18 and s 19, and notifiable entities for draft reports (s 24).
Referral entities and oversight bodies: the inspector may enter into arrangements with and refer matters to the health ombudsman, human rights commissioner, ombudsman and public guardian (s 20). The Act expressly requires the inspector to avoid duplicating or delaying other statutory investigators such as the Corrective Services inspector under Corrective Services Act 2006 s 294(2), police investigating offences, and officers under a list of Acts including Auditor-General Act 2009, Coroners Act 2003, Crime and Corruption Act 2001 and Human Rights Act 2019 (s 19(1)(a)-(c)).
Ombudsman office officers and contractors who assist the inspector are affected in terms of handling confidential information: s 30 imposes statutory confidentiality duties and ss 29-32 set limits on use and admissibility. Officers must also display identity cards when exercising powers in person (ss 44-46).
Who pays: the Act does not specify a new funding stream or fees. The ombudsman office must provide administrative support (s 35), and the Ombudsman is appointed as inspector (s 33), so operational costs will be absorbed within the ombudsman office budget or existing appropriation mechanisms; the Act itself does not set funding, fees or cost-recovery arrangements.
Who decides: the inspector has significant discretion. The inspector may act on the inspector’s own initiative (s 8(3)). The inspector may perform functions at a Minister’s request but is not required to (s 8(4)). The inspector is not subject to direction about the way functions are performed, subject to other law (s 10). The Act also creates decision points for responsible officers (show cause under s 17), for the inspector in deciding whether to refer matters to Ministers or referral entities (s 17, s 20), and for the Speaker and Clerk in tabling and publishing reports (ss 21, 26).
In summary, the Act imposes new inspection and information obligations on personnel connected with places of detention across corrections, police, health and youth justice, expands statutory protections for information sources and creates new reporting and referral pathways to Parliament and oversight entities.