This audit would examine whether the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) effectively and efficiently manages in-jurisdiction complaints about Australian Government entities. The Ombudsman considers and investigates complaints from people who believe they have been treated unfairly or unreasonably by an Australian Government entity or prescribed private sector organisation. Its aim is to resolve complaints impartially, informally and as quickly as reasonably practicable.

In 2018–19, the Ombudsman finalised 34,322 in-jurisdiction complaints. For that year, the percentage of these complaints that required more substantial investigation was not reported. For 2017–18, 20 per cent required more substantial investigation (categories four and five in the Ombudsman's five-category complaint system), with some requiring the involvement of senior managers.

The Ombudsman has a corporate objective to provide an effective and efficient complaint handling service, with an associated key performance indicator that 85 per cent of approaches are finalised within its service standards. For 2018–19, the reported result was 89 per cent, a 14.1 per cent increase from 74.9 per cent per cent reported in 2017–18, which had fallen from 76.6 per cent in 2016–17.

This performance audit would examine how premiums are set to manage exposures, provisioning and reinsurance arrangements.

Comcover is the Australian Government's self-managed insurance fund. It is mandatory for all Commonwealth entities that are subject to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and classified in the general government sector to be members of the fund. As at 30 June 2020, Comcover had a claims liability of $588 million, with cash reserves of $672.3 million in the Comcover Special Account. An equity injection of $150 million was provided in 2019–20 due to several large property claims arising from weather events, including the Canberra hailstorm and bushfires.