Checklist · Military & Defence Law
Screen before a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about Defence
A screen for a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about Defence: who the complaints page says may complain, what it says is outside the investigation, and the redress step for a serving member.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a serving member, former member, spouse, dependant, or member of the public wants the Commonwealth Ombudsman to look at an unresolved Defence administrative matter. It is not the redress of grievance complaint, and it is not a discipline document.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may sort the instructions into the categories on the Ombudsman page; the lawyer decides whether this complaint is one that page says can be investigated.
AI may
- List the complainant's connection with Defence as the instructions state it
- Record whether a redress of grievance has already been lodged, and the date, if the instructions give one
AI must not
- Must not describe a Defence discipline matter as something the Ombudsman can investigate
- Must not tell a serving member to skip redress of grievance, except where the page's report-of-abuse exception is the instruction
- Must not complete the Ombudsman's online form or the permission form
The lawyer checks
- The complaint is an administrative matter of the kind the page lists, or it is recorded as outside that list
- A serving member who is not reporting abuse has used redress of grievance first
- If someone else will complain for the person, the permission form named on the page is used, and its fields are taken from the form itself
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- 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.
More in Military & Defence Law
- Disciplinary infringement notice: election checklist (Defence Force Discipline Act)
- Service discipline matter register and material index (ADF member)
- Election to be tried by court martial or Defence Force magistrate: decision record
- Redress of grievance complaint about a service decision (Defence Regulation 2016 Part 7)
- Redress of grievance timetable after the complaint is lodged
- Command review of a senior discipline officer's punishment (DFDA s 9G)
- Brief for a family on an Inspector-General inquiry into a death
- Petition to a reviewing authority for review of a service tribunal conviction or punishment (DFDA s 153)
- Appeal to the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal: time limit and filing checklist
- IGADF inquiry: notices, comment on proposed findings, and who may be told
- Scope of a submission to the Inspector-General of the ADF
- Summary authority hearing: documents and issues checklist (no statement)
All precedents for Military & Defence Law · Tasks and AI use in this area