Schedule 15 Amendment of Ombudsman Act 1974 No 68
Insert “or, in the case where more than one Minister is responsible for that Department, the Minister who, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, is most nearly connected with the conduct of that Department” after “the Minister responsible for that Department” in paragraph (a) of the definition of responsible Minister in section 5 (1).
Omit paragraph (a) of the definition of designated government agency in section 25A (1).Insert instead:
(a) the Department of Education and Training (including a government school) or the Department of Health,(a1) a Division of the Government Service (or a part of a Division of the Government Service) prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition,
The proposed amendments:(a) enable the Ombudsman, in the case where more than one Minister is responsible for a particular Department, to determine which Minister is the responsible Minister for the purposes of consultation with the Ombudsman under various provisions of the above Act relating to that Department, and(b) enable parts of an agency (rather than an entire agency) to be prescribed as an agency that is subject to the child protection requirements under Part 3A of the above Act.