Full description
This series consists of files created by the Office of the Ombudsman (VA 1037) in the course of investigating complaints in its general jurisdiction. This jurisdiction relates to complaints received by it concerning administrative actions taken in Victorian Government Departments, statutory bodies or by officers and employees of municipal councils.The complaint files contain the original signed complaint as received by the Office, reports and other documentation collected by the Ombudsman's staff in the course of the investigation and the results of the investigation. Files also contain, in some cases, responses by complainants or State Government bodies to new information and to provisional findings by the Ombudsman.
This series does not include complaints made in relation to Victoria Police or the administration of the Freedom of Information Act. These complaints are contained within VPRS 13960 Complaint Files (Police) and VPRS 14627 Complaint Files (Freedom of Information) respectively.
Until November 1981, the series contained files relating to general jurisdiction complaints that were received but deemed not to be within the jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate under the provisions of the Ombudsman Act 1973. After 1981 such files were incorporated into the Office's general subject correspondence series. The general subject corresponence series has not been transferred to PROV.
Between November 1981 and June 1993 the general subject correspondence system also incorporated files relating to either anonymous complaints, resolved complaints or complaints which were referred to other agencies for investigation. These files were identified in the system by primary number 128. Prior to November 1981 and after June 1993, files for such cases were maintained within this series.
Culled and Missing files
A number of files which were originally part of this series have not been transferred and have been destroyed in accordance with authorised disposal action. The files destroyed relate to general jurisdiction complaints which were received and:
deemed not to be within the jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman
made the subject of a preliminary enquiry after which the case did not proceed to a full investigation. In such instances the case was considered to be finalised because the complaint was either withdrawn, deferred (and not subsequently taken up), discontinued, clarified, resolved or the Ombudsman deemed that the complaint was either not sustained, sustained but not remediable or sustained with action to be taken.
For both no jurisdiction and preliminary enquiry cases, all files which had been identified as containing a precedent relating to the duties of the Office have been retained for permanent retention. All of the remaining preliminary enqiry and no jurisdiction files have been destroyed 10 years after action was completed by the Office.
Additionally, the first 600 files were not located for disposal action at the time of the transfer of the first consignment of this series.
Data time period:
[1973 TO 3000]
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