Official Visitor for Disability and Official Visitor for Mental Health

Closes: 28 June 2026

Classification: Board/Committee/Council

Position No: ACT Official Visitors

Directorate: Independent Statutory Offices including boards, tribunals and committees

Advertised (Gazettal date): 29 May 2026

Contact Officer: Stefan Dzwonnik on ***email_hidden*** or (02) 6207 0978

ACT Official Visitors are part-time statutory officeholders who provide independent oversight to help safeguard the rights, safety, and wellbeing of people in Canberra whose condition or situation makes them potentially vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation and who reside in and/or rely on services provided in government and non-government facilities. This includes accommodation, housing, places of detention, inpatient mental health settings, and refuges covered by the Children and Young People Act 2008, Corrections Management Act 2007, Disability Services Act 1991, Housing Assistance Act 2007 and the Mental Health Act 2015.

ACT Official Visitors seek to identify and address systemic service issues in these diverse environments. They achieve this by visiting ‘visitable places’, talking with entitled persons, inspecting records, appraising the standard of facilities, and reporting to the operational Minister and other public authorities.

Official Visitors can also take complaints and assist with resolving grievances and lesser issues.

Official Visitors are independent statutory office holders who can visit visitable places and meet entitled persons to identify and monitor systemic issues and resolve grievances using early intervention and resolution practices. Official Visitors are responsible for making inquiries and visits as set out in the Official Visitor Act 2012, the relevant operational legislation, and the Official Visitor Guidelines. The Official Visitor reports to the relevant operational Minister and advises on entitled peoples’ experiences, needs and the standard of the services they receive.

The role of the Official Visitor for Disability is to visit people with disability in supported accommodation and residential age care.

The role of the Official Visitor for Mental Health is to visit people at supported accommodation and mental health facilities.

To apply, applicants are asked to submit an expression of interest (maximum four A4 pages) detailing their knowledge, skills and experience against the attached selection criteria and a current Curriculum Vitae through the apply now button below.

#LI-DNI