Australian and NZ Ombudsmen Association Reception

May I start by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the evening (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Fiona McLeod, Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsmen Association; Members of the Association Executive, particularly the New Zealand Executive, Liz Brown and Karen Stephens; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

As Governor-General of New Zealand, and an erstwhile Ombudsman, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Government House Wellington this evening to this reception for the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsmen Association (ANZOA).

I would like to take an opportunity to briefly reflect on the expansion of the Ombudsman role from its origins in Scandinavia to the rest of the world, and on its progression from a primarily public sector agency to one that works in many areas of the economy.

When a New Zealander, Sir Guy Powles, was appointed as the first non-Scandinavian Ombudsman in 1962, I wonder if he could have foreseen how far and wide the concept would spread even 45 years on. 

Given the work he and his immediate successor, Sir George Laking, gave to promoting the role internationally, neither would have been too hugely surprised that there are now parliamentary commissioners or ombudsmen in countries as diverse as Britain and Bulgaria, Croatia and the Czech Republic, the Philippines and Poland.  Quite rightly, it may be said then, that American political scientist Larry Hill, who was a Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand, was prescient in naming his 1976 seminal work on the New Zealand experiment, The Model Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman Committee of the International Bar Association in the 1970s defined the Ombudsman concept in the following words:

"An Office provided for by the Constitution or by action of the Legislature or Parliament and headed by an independent high-level public official, who is responsible to the Legislature or Parliament, who receives complaints from aggrieved persons against government agencies, officials and employees, or who acts on [his] own motion and who has the power to investigate, recommend corrective action and issue reports."

But what has occurred since has been the adoption of the concept on a far wider scale, with a vast array of industries now having appointed ombudsmen.  Throughout Australasia there are now ombudsmen responsible for handling public complaints from industries as diverse as banking, through savings and insurance, to water, energy, public transport and telecommunications.

While some are established by statute, others have been established by the industry under agreed trust deeds or memoranda of understanding, meaning that the definition of the term Ombudsman has subtly changed.  While the public sector is often noted for adapting concepts from the private sector—the establishment of New Zealand's state-owned enterprises under standard company law being a classic example—the Ombudsman can be said to be one of the few concepts that has moved from the public sector to the private sector in the last 25 years.

All Ombudsman operations, however, are united in acting as a mechanism whereby members of the public can lodge complaints, which will be investigated impartially and independently of both parties.  As most ombudsmen have very few mechanisms to compel the complained of body to comply with their recommendation, they were early adopters of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to bring parties together to reach a mutually acceptable resolution to a complaint.  When I worked as an Ombudsman, I undertook a LEADR course and an interest in the organisation's activities and took pleasure in recently closing their Australasian conference in Wellington in September.

The Rt Hon Sir Kenneth Keith, now the first New Zealander to be elected to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, when working as an academic at Victoria University of Wellington wrote an article on ombudsmanship.  In it he used the jingle of a well-known home appliance retailer whom the New Zealanders in the audience will be well aware of, to make the point that, "it's the putting right that counts." 

I would like to take that point and develop it further.  This notion, of "putting things right" underpins an essence of the Scandinavian notion of the Ombudsman's work—namely an independent review by a knowledgeable and disinterested reviewer who is able to suggest a viable answer to what might be an intractable problem.  In their recent review of the Ombudsman concept on six continents, Professor Roy Gregory and Dr Phillip Giddings, not surprisingly, entitled their edited book, Righting Wrongs.

While the Ombudsman's work was originally seen in humble terms as a simple, low-cost way that citizens could have grievances against public bodies investigated by an impartial authority, the role is increasingly being seen as a key to human and political and civil rights.

Only last week, the role of the New Zealand Ombudsmen with regard to oversight of New Zealand's prisons was enhanced.  While the Ombudsmen have long handled complaints from prisoners about their treatment, the Government announced that the Office will have primary responsibility for all prison investigations and inspections, including investigating all deaths in custody and designated serious incidents.

This initiative not only underlines New Zealand's obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and particularly Article 5's prohibition on degrading treatment or punishment, but also under the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Increasingly, a government's duty to provide good governance, to operate with due accountability and transparency, are being seen as key civil rights.  This reflects a growing recognition that good governance is a basic requirement for the enjoyment of all civil rights.  If a government is corrupt in its handling of monies and contracts, then the chances that it will pay heed any other key rights—of expression, of religion or to fair elections, for example,—are minimal indeed.  As recent Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman, Arne Fliflet once said:

"the spirit of the ombudsman institution can be deemed to be basically the same as that enshrined in various international agreements for the protection of the fundamental rights of an individual against "injustice and arbitrariness by authorities". ...the institution of the ombudsman and human rights conventions are based on the same philosophical idea with each sharing a common goal of protecting citizens against unjust governmental actions."

The development of the Ombudsman concept, with its foundation on notions of justice and providing redress, in many ways can be said to have provided key pointers to the restorative justice movement in the criminal law jurisdiction. 

Returning now to the notion of "it's the putting right that counts," when the Office of Ombudsman was first established, it was seen, at best, as a nuisance, and at worst, as a threat, by many in the public sector. 

But with time, chief executives began to see an Ombudsman's investigation not as a threat but as an opportunity.  Of course, there was always the comfort at the end of an investigation that found the agency had done nothing wrong.  But managers increasingly saw the Ombudsman's intervention—regardless of the outcome—as an opportunity to look afresh at their systems and to improve their service.

In a sense, while it remains true that "it's the putting right that counts," the sector has also embraced the view that "it's the getting it right in the first place that counts even more."

In conclusion then, as those committed to getting it right and putting it right, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you, ANZOANS all, all the best with your ongoing work.

On that note, I will close by speaking in Maori issuing greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.