Appointment of Acting Ombudsman
Mr Richard Connock has been appointed Acting Ombudsman following the retirement of Mr Simon Allston. Mr Connock joined the Office of the Ombudsman and Health Complaints Commissioner in February 2007 as Principal Officer (Ombudsman), and was appointed Director in April 2011. Mr Connock is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Courts of Victoria and Tasmania, and was first admitted to practice in Victoria in 1981. He was a member of the Victorian Bar before moving to Tasmania. Mr Connock worked as a consultant legal practitioner and as a project consultant to various agencies including the Office of the Health Complaints Commissioner before joining the Ombudsman’s office.
The Ombudsman is required by s 49(1) of the Right to Information Act to issue and maintain Guidelines relating to certain aspects of the Act.
The Ombudsman has recently issued a revised version of Guideline 1/2010, which deals with the review by the Ombudsman of decisions made by public authorities and ministers under the Act. This revised Guideline was issued on 1 November 2011 and is available from the link below.
The Ombudsman has also recently issued a Guideline in relation to Charges for Information under the Right to Information Act 2009, being Guideline 1/2012. This Guideline is available from the link below.
Guideline in relation to charges for information under the Right to Information Act 2009 [10 January 2012, PDF 88KB, 7 Pages]
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