Fair and safe

Our Purpose

To provide fair and independent oversight that helps people be heard, improves services and promotes the safety of vulnerable people.

We value:

• Integrity. Integrity defines who we are when it matters most. We act independently, stand by our decisions and hold ourselves and each other to account.
• Service. We are here to serve the community, balancing individual needs with our broader public responsibility.
• Excellence. We hold ourselves to a high standard so our work is rigorous, thoughtful and worthy of public trust.
• Progress. We challenge outdated practices, share better ways of working and adapt our systems so we can deliver better services over time.

What we do

• Protect people’s rights. We give people a way to be heard when they’ve been treated unfairly.  We also oversee how government power is exercised.
• Improve services. We can investigate how services are delivered and bring weaknesses to light. In doing so, we improve service delivery for all.
• Prevent harm. We provide oversight of child safety and identify opportunities to prevent certain deaths and child related harm.
• Support vulnerable communities. We reach out to people who are often overlooked or disadvantaged, ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are considered.

Our Goals

• Connected Services. We are accessible and connected, with culturally safe services that make a difference.
• Insights for Change. Our oversight keeps children and families safe and results in better and fairer public services.
• Strengthen our Standing. We are widely known, trusted and called upon when needed.
• Safe, Supported and Empowered. We are vibrant and cohesive with our people feeling safe, supported and empowered.
• Operational Excellence. Our people are equipped to excel in ways that makes their jobs easier and more fulfilling.

Our Focus Areas

• Engage and provide fair access for vulnerable and underrepresented groups.
• Train staff in cultural safety, youth engagement, working with interpreters, disability awareness, and trauma-informed care.
• Earn trust with Aboriginal leaders by including their voices in our work.
• Strengthen engagement with parliamentary committees, public sector stakeholders and charitable trusts.
• Share more insight papers, best practice guides, and case studies in plain English on all media platforms.
• Implement a new Child Safeguarding function.
• Extend Energy and Water services to alternative electricity services consumers.
• Publish standards for major investigations and a guide on public administration issues we plan to address.
• Test new ethical AI practices and provide 24/7 AI powered support to the public.
• Celebrate achievements, support flexible work, and trust staff to streamline workflows.
• Support career advancement, cross-team collaboration, and talent development.
• Train staff in collaboration tools, simplify information access, and enhance data analytics.

How We Will Measure Success

• Obtain stakeholder feedback to ensure our services are accessible, responsive and trusted.
• Monitor service reach and use, with a focus on vulnerable and underrepresented groups.
• Track our impact on public administration and child safety practices.
• Measure staff engagement to ensure our culture, capability and systems support high performance.