Ms Noeline Blackwell:

While the Ombudsman would claim it is not bound by all its previous decisions, how can we know there is consistent decision making within it without that information? There is a model which is not totally satisfactory but now works in the immigration area. The Office of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal has a database it can make available to people. If I am looking for the tribunal's decisions on a specific issue, I can ask it for that. I will not see everything on its website, but if I have a particular concern, I can see it. That is a model that has been adapted and used, and seems to be satisfactory without being too top-heavy on cost.