Our leadership and teams

Energy and Water Ombudsman

The Energy and Water Ombudsman administers the Energy and Water Ombudsman scheme in Queensland.

The Ombudsman provides a timely, effective, independent and just way of resolving disputes, and ensures complaints are handled promptly.

The Ombudsman:

  • provides leadership and direction for EWOQ
  • helps improve services to customers in the energy and water sectors
  • promotes a culture of excellence and a commitment to customer service with EWOQ
  • strives to give Queenslanders equal access to our dispute resolution service
  • monitors all EWOQ’s operations, functions and drives continual improvement in EWOQ’s performance.

The current Ombudsman is Jane Pires. Read more about our Ombudsman.

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council advises the Minister for Energy and Clean Economy Jobs, Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing, Minister for Water and the Energy and Water Ombudsman on the operation of the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland scheme.

It ensures the scheme runs effectively, efficiently, lawfully and independently, and is fair for all customers and scheme participants.

Read more about the Advisory Council.

Executive Management Group

The Executive Management Group helps to:

  • develop our strategic direction
  • align our business and operational direction with our strategic direction
  • ensure EWOQ has effective corporate governance, as required by the Energy and Water Ombudsman Act 2006.

Our teams

Our people are our greatest strength.

Our teams use their diverse skills and experiences to provide great service to Queensland communities. They are professional, approachable and results driven.

Outline of EWOQ organisational structure with the Energy and Water Ombudsman overseeing the 4 teams.

These teams work under the Ombudsman:

Assessment, Investigation and Resolution – assesses and investigates complaints, monitors systemic issues, and runs stakeholder engagement and community outreach activities.

Strategy, Operations and Governance – manages finance, IT, reporting and analysis, and policy and research activities.

Communications and Engagement – manages external and internal communications and engagement activities.

People, Capability and Culture – manages human resources across EWOQ, including recruitment, employee relations, organisational culture and change, and learning and development.

Our committees

Audit and Risk Management Committee

This committee gives the Ombudsman independent leadership, advice and support about EWOQ’s:

  • external accountability responsibilities
  • risk, control and compliance frameworks
  • governance framework.

The Audit and Risk Management Committee charter (PDF, 249.11 KB) outlines the committee’s role, responsibilities, composition and operating guidelines.

The committee conducts its activities in accordance with Queensland Treasury’s audit committee guidelines.

Information Steering Committee

This committee gives the Ombudsman strategic information management and advice by:

  • approving policies and standards for information and communication technology (ICT)
  • developing ICT strategic plans
  • monitoring the performance of core business systems, significant ICT projects and the performance of shared service providers
  • ensuring that EWOQ complies with the Queensland Government’s ICT policies and standards.

For more details on how we make decisions, read our Corporate governance framework (PDF, 247.58 KB).