Local government ombudsmen in Canada, India and Australia: A comparative analysis

The Ombudsman is an institution that receives the complaints of citizens who are exposed to bad actions and actions of the public administration, examines these complaints quickly, accurately and reliably, and presents the reports it obtains as a result to the parliament. It is seen that this institution finds an area of application at the level of local administrations as well as its implementation at the national level. Due to the increasing number of duties undertaken by local governments and their important characteristics, local ombudsmanships equipped with local responsibilities have been established as well as ombudsmanships established for central governments. In Canada, which was first examined in this study, it is seen that provincial and regional ombudsmen have been established since an ombudsman covering the whole country has not been established at the federal level. In India, the second country examined in the study, each state has established a local ombudsman, known as Lokayukta, in local governments to deal with corruption complaints against certain public officials. Although there is an ombudsman at the federal level in Australia, which will be examined last in the study, it started in the State of Western Australia in 1971 at the state level and was established in all other states. The aim of this study is to make comparisons from different perspectives after the literature review on the local ombudsman institution practices of Canada, India and Australia.