Veterans Affairs committee  I wouldn't want to comment, other than to say that I think it's recognized across the western world that an ombudsman is a good thing in terms of the overall governance of the citizens, and that it's another avenue of redressing the system.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, it's another mechanism within your governance structures that citizens can use to address complaints that they might have with particular government agencies.

Veterans Affairs committee  No.

Veterans Affairs committee  My colleague, Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, may be best placed to comment on that.

Veterans Affairs committee  The Australian government used to run what we called the Repatriation General Hospitals. We had one in each major province or state of Australia. In the early 1990s the government made the decision to sell them off. In answer to your question, there is no such thing as a veteran hospital in Australia.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  The veterans population is around 330,000 out of 20 million.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's probably more significant than your 220,000 out of 30 million or 32 million. I think the Department of Veterans' Affairs does do a good job, and that's evidenced by the high satisfaction survey ratings the department gets. Normally, most issues between the veteran and the department are sorted out within the department or through the Veterans' Review Board without needing to have recourse to the ombudsman.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, in the broad, yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  No.

Veterans Affairs committee  I did get some preliminary figures. Within the national office in Canberra there's a small team that looks after the defence matters, and that's of the order of four to five people. Within each of the state offices there are also investigation staff that do on-the-ground work. So it would be an addition of the state office staff and the core group in Canberra.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said in my introductory remarks, the ombudsman has no jurisdiction over the merits of decisions that come out of the Veterans' Review Board. The ombudsman only looks at issues of process and administration--i.e., systemic issues.

Veterans Affairs committee  There were no complaints last year, 2005-06, about the Veterans' Review Board, and the year before there were two complaints. As I understand it, complaints are in the order of one or two per year.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.