Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman – Sydney NSW

Opening its doors in February 2025 and situated within the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the National Student Ombudsman (NSO) provides an independent and impartial mechanism for students to elevate complaints about the actions of their TEQSA‑registered higher education provider.

The NSO employs a trauma informed approach to complaint handling and has powers to consider a broad range of issues that may impact students, including student safety and wellbeing.

Our services include:

- Complaint resolution through a variety of pathways including restorative engagement, alternative dispute resolution and formal investigations
- Proactively addressing systemic issues
- Undertaking education and outreach activities across the higher education sector
- Sharing findings with higher education providers and regulators, recommending actions to improve their policies and practices

For more information about who we are and what we do, please visit our website.

The NSO Complaints Team is the initial point of contact for higher education students and works efficiently and effectively with students to assess and resolve complaints. Complaints Officers work with students and higher education providers to resolve matters using a range of dispute resolution and investigative tools.

The key duties of the position include:

We are seeking Complaints Officers at the APS 5 level. We are looking for people who have a strong sense of curiosity, the courage to challenge ideas and energetic enthusiasm. We are looking for people with broad experience working in complaint handling, or a similar public facing environment,



and who are comfortable engaging with students and higher education providers by phone, in writing or in person.

The duties of the role include but are not limited to:

- Engaging with students in writing, face to face and by telephone including rostered contact centre shifts to register, assess and analyse complaints and enquiries.
- Engaging with higher education providers and exercising delegated legislative powers to gather information to progress cases to resolution.
- Managing a diverse caseload of straightforward, complex and sensitive complaints to deliver efficient and effective outcomes.
- Understanding, responding to and resolving complex or sensitive enquiries by providing specific program, service or policy information to complainants.
- Working effectively and cooperatively as a member of a team, including assisting with quality assurance, and participating in corporate activities and project work.
- Identifying opportunities to make recommendations, comments and suggestion to higher education providers to improve process and policy.
- Representing the NSO at outreach activities and events.

For more information on the role please view the Candidate Information Kit on our website.

Eligibility

The successful candidate must:

- be an Australian citizen




- be willing to undergo a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC)
- be willing to undergo a pre‑employment psychological assessment. Some areas of the Office’s work involve exposure to potentially distressing information and materials. It is important we are confident you can engage with this work without experiencing harm to your wellbeing.

Getting to know the Commonwealth Ombudsman

About the Office The purpose of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Office) is to:

- provide assurance that the Australia Government entities and prescribed private sector organisations that the Office oversights, act with integrity and treat people fairly, and
- influence enduring systematic improvement in public administration in Australia and the Pacific region.

The Office does this through handling complaints, conducting investigations, performing audits and inspections and encouraging good administration. The Office also influences improvement in public administration in the Pacific region through collaboration with partner entities. The Office is statutorily independent within the Attorney‑General’s portfolio with the following separate titles that describe some of our specific powers and functions:

- Defence Force Ombudsman
- Postal Industry Ombudsman
- Overseas Students Ombudsman
- Private Health Insurance Ombudsman
- Immigration Ombudsman
- Law Enforcement Ombudsman
- VET Students Loans Ombudsman.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman is also the ACT Ombudsman. Further information about the Office is available at the Commonwealth Ombudsman website.

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📌 Complaints Officers (New South Wales)
🏢 Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman
📍 New South Wales