Letter · Administrative & Public Law
Agency submission in response to a Commonwealth Ombudsman draft report or proposed critical opinions (Ombudsman Act s 8(5))
Letter for an agency’s principal officer responding to the Ombudsman’s draft report or proposed critical opinions: factual corrections, response to each proposed finding and recommendation, remediation already taken, and the agency’s proposed action.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- Commonwealth, Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for Commonwealth and Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when the Commonwealth Ombudsman has given an agency an opportunity to make submissions before reporting opinions critical of it or of an officer, or has asked what action the agency proposes after a report. Officers personally criticised have their own right to respond and may need separate advice.
How AI may be used
AI may tabulate the proposed findings and recommendations and check factual statements against the agency’s records; the agency’s lawyer and principal officer decide the response, and the officer concerned confirms the facts.
AI may
- Tabulate each proposed finding, opinion and recommendation in the draft report with its paragraph number
- Check dates, figures and quoted policy wording in the draft report against the agency’s records and list discrepancies with sources
- List remediation steps already taken from the agency’s records, with dates and evidence
AI must not
- Must not decide whether to accept or contest a finding or recommendation
- Must not characterise the complainant’s conduct or credibility
- Must not disclose the draft report, which is confidential, outside the agency’s approved environment
The lawyer checks
- Every factual correction is supported by a record that can be given to the Ombudsman if asked
- The response to each recommendation is one the principal officer has approved and the agency can deliver, with a date
- Officers personally criticised have been told of their own opportunity to respond and of any conflict with the agency’s position
- The submission is accurate and not misleading, given the Ombudsman may give the report to the Minister and the Prime Minister
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
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- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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