Record keeping Perspectives from the Victorian Ombudsman’s office Friday 12 August 2011

1. Record keeping Perspectives from the Victorian Ombudsman’s office Friday 12 August 2011 Stephen Mumford, Director David Warner, Investigation Officer

2. Session overview • Background • Ombudsman’s role • Ombudsman’s jurisdiction • Records Management • Recent investigations • Risks identified by the Victorian Ombudsman • Questions

3. Background

4. Ombudsman’s role • Independent • Impartial • Takes complaints • Makes recommendations • 21,000 + approaches in 2009-10 (11,000 jurisdictional)

5. Jurisdiction Federal State Local 3 levels of government

6. Jurisdiction Some examples of what the Ombudsman can and cannot investigate

7. 19. My officers also identified that several public officers breached their obligations under the Public Record Office Disposal schedule by destroying documents relating to their purchases from The Company that are public records. 20. It is clear that the destruction of these records by a number of public officers may have been or appeared to be deliberate attempts to disguise and conceal gifts received from The Company. Recent investigationsCorrupt conduct by public officersin procurement June 2011

8. Incident Report Format 108. The incident reports reviewed by my officers are all of a differing format. There appears to be no standardised form and the pertinent information is not readily seen on the front page. The time, date and place of the incident are recorded on different pages in different versions and the incident reports do not contain the time and date they are received by the department. I note that the manager signs the report on the last page to finalise the matter and no outcome is recorded.. Recent investigationsOmbudsman Investigation: Assault of a Disability Services Client by Department of Human Services Staff

9. The investigation found: Poor record keeping standards at all the agents Outdated IT systems A lack of understanding at the agents of record keeping responsibilities and legislation/guidelines ‘I’m not familiar with the Public Records Act or if such a thing exists.’ Recent investigations Investigation into record keeping failures by the WorkSafe agents

10. What was found to have resulted from poor record keeping practice and systems: A $2.5 million manipulation of WorkSafe incentives Delays in payments to injured workers and service providers. In one case $20,000 owed to a worker. Poor and delayed decision making Privacy breaches Recent investigations Investigation into record keeping failures by the WorkSafe agents

11. RECOMMENDATIONS take immediate action to ensure agents comply with their contractual obligations regarding record keeping introduce a modern IT system for its agents, to address the issues identified in this report audit its agents’ record keeping as a priority and then review compliance each year introduce a central registry for all accounts, invoices or medical certificates received by its agents Recent investigations Investigation into record keeping failures by the WorkSafe agents

12. Outdated systems where: Multiple systems supporting the business are not integrated (data base, emails, complaints management systems etc) Digital copies of records are not stored Case / transaction notes are not readily accessible Work around practices develop locally without appropriate governance Issues we have seen...

13. Consequences have included: Destruction of hard copy records for improper purposes harder to detect Mismatch between electronic and paper files Poor decision making based on incomplete records Little confidence in Public Records Act obligations being met Data being used for unintended purposes (local work around practices) Breaches of privacy Issues we have seen...

14. And finally, the basics...

15. Questions?