Case examples

Case example Border closures separate school children from parents

Amanda sent Harriet to her grandparent’s property in NSW whilst she ran the bureaucratic gauntlet of trying to get her daughter a border permit

System failures
Department of Health

Case example Sick grandmother's bid to protect family

Edwina had become concerned for the safety of her family.

Complaint handling
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

Case example Mum pleads to help keep daughter alive

A mother was keeping her daughter alive by running three life support machines at her home.

Disability
Department of Health & Human Services

Case example Student in fight to claim degree from University

After finishing his final semester of study, Ethan was shocked to learn he was not eligible to receive his Bachelor of Business degree

System failures
Department of Education & Training

Case example Ombudsman helps ring wedding bells

After filing his Single Status request with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Dominic waited for the certificate to arrive.

Service delays
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

Case example VicRoads backflip puts Harry in the driver’s seat

Harry was working in a supermarket but COVID-19 imposed curfews made it difficult for him to attend work

System failures
VicRoads

Case example Grandparents granted $10k in kinship back-payments

Grandparents Wendy and Joseph found their lives turned upside down when granddaughter Lilly was removed from her mother and placed into their protective care.

Kinship Care
Disability
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

Case example Prison restricts access to culturally appropriate food

While prisons understandably restrict items that can be brought in for security reasons, everyone is entitled to have their cultural rights upheld.

Human Rights
Department of Corrections

Case example Hold up with birth certificate proves costly

Birth certificates prove legal identity and not having one can cause significant disadvantage. It can be difficult to access supports and services.

Service delays
Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

Case example Woman forced to relieve herself in empty water bottle

Tamika and her child were detained for five hours at Melbourne Airport while they were assigned a quarantine hotel. Tamika was refused access to a toilet whilst there

Human Rights
Department of Health

Case example Brian’s right to protection from degrading treatment after having a seizure

Brian called our office from the medical unit in prison after he had an epileptic seizure and wet the bed. Brian said staff provided him with a change of clothes, but there was no clean bedding available. As a result, Brian had to sleep in the wet bedding overnight.

Prisons
Human Rights
Prisons

Case example Kylie’s right to maintain her connection to her Aboriginal community and culture

Kylie is a young Aboriginal woman from regional Victoria living in out-of-home residential care, provided over time by three different Community Service Organisations engaged by Child Protection. Kylie’s mother contacted us because she was worried about her daughter’s care.

Human Rights
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing

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