Annual casebook released – helping public sector agencies to improve decision-making
13 May 2026
Case studies
The Queensland Ombudsman’s report, Casebook 2026: Helping agencies to improve decision-making, was published under the authority of the Honourable Pat Weir MP, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament on 13 May 2026.
The sixth issue of our annual casebook series provides 18 case studies of complaints this Office has investigated, including the outcomes. Our aim is to support agencies to improve their procedures and processes, with the casebook including further insights for the agency to consider.
The Queensland Ombudsman, Mr Anthony Reilly, said the casebook is a good opportunity to showcase some of the complaints the Office investigates and the outcomes we achieve for Queenslanders every year.
“In the 2026 casebook, we cover a broad spectrum of issues experienced by the community, including:
- environmental health concerns
- boundary encroachments
- noise nuisance from a business
- residents’ rights when contacting council
- patient travel subsidies
- carcass disposal
- management of prisoner property
- vehicle modification application
- climate energy saving rebates
- childcare facilities.
“We hope these case studies will both inform the community about the work we do and how we can help.
“We also hope it is used as a tool by Queensland agencies to support learning and to build knowledge for public sector officers.”
Supporting resources
To find out more about good practice in decision-making, administrative processes and complaints handling, please consider our suite of ‘Good decisions’ resources:
- online self-paced training module – Good Decisions – Essentials is available anywhere, at any time
- video – a short, animated overview of good decision-making for use in staff inductions and training
- checklist – a prompt for officers to print and keep at their workstation
- newsletters – Perspectives, a quarterly subscription newsletter
Another online module helps you learn about reporting serious wrongdoing in the public sector. Public Interest Disclosures – Essentials, is an overview of what a public interest disclosure (PID) is, how to make one, and the protections and responsibilities that apply. Making a PID is sometimes called ‘whistleblowing’.