ABSTRACT
The 1980s were marked by a series of legislative measures in Australia and other countries by which greater accountability was demanded of government departments and their officers. These developments in Australia saw the appointment of Ombudsmen, Freedom of Information Legislation, an Administrative Appeals Tribunal and other such measures. These administrative and legal changes were made partly as a result of institutional changes that became popular in Western democracies and partly because governments sought to distance themselves from dispute-settling between a better informed public and an enlarged governmental administration.
