23 October 2026 | Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The Office of the Ombudsman – Te Mato Akamoeau officially launched its Emergency Preparedness and Response brochure on Friday, 23 October 2026, in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The initiative aims to improve access to practical disaster preparedness information, particularly for persons with disabilities, older persons, families and other vulnerable members of the Cook Islands community.

The launch brought together representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Cook Islands National Disability Council and Emergency Management Cook Islands (EMCI). Speakers highlighted the importance of collaboration and ensuring that disaster preparedness information is accessible and inclusive, including for people living in the Pa Enua.

Designed with clear visuals and easy-to-follow guidance, the brochure provides practical information to help individuals and families prepare for emergencies and natural disasters.

Copies will be distributed through relevant agencies, community networks and public places across Rarotonga and the Pa Enua to help ensure the information reaches those who need it most.

The initiative reflects the importance of working together to strengthen community preparedness, promote accessibility and ensure that persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are not overlooked during emergencies.

The Office of the Ombudsman acknowledges the support and collaboration of its partners in advancing a safer, more inclusive and disaster-resilient Cook Islands.

Preparedness, accessibility and inclusion are everyone’s responsibility.

On 15 October 2026, the Ombudsman, Niki Rattle, held an awareness session at Crown Beach Resort for Pa Enua Executive Officers.

The session provided an opportunity to raise awareness about the role and functions of the Office of the Ombudsman – Te Mato Akamoeau, and to share important information on disaster preparedness ahead of the upcoming cyclone season.

As part of this initiative, disaster preparedness brochures were handed over to the Executive Officers to support the sharing of practical safety information with their island communities. The brochures provide guidance on preparing for cyclones, flooding and other emergencies, building emergency kits, planning evacuations, and ensuring that people with disabilities and those with special needs are included in disaster planning.

🤝 A joint initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Ombudsman, this collaboration highlights the importance of working together to build safer, better-informed and more resilient communities across the Cook Islands.

As we approach the cyclone season, we encourage everyone to BE PREPARED, STAY INFORMED AND STAY SAFE. 🌴🌀

Office Closure Notice

Date: 17 October 2025

Please be advised that the Office of the Ombudsman is closed today due to unforeseen road works outside the premises and a temporary water supply interruption.

For urgent matters, please contact:

• Corporate Services Lead – 72897
• Ombudsman – 55598

We can also be reached via our usual email contacts for any assistance.

Normal business operations will resume on Monday, 20 October 2025.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding.

Office of the Ombudsman

The Australasia & Pacific Regional Conference is comprised of Taiwan and Hong Kong from Asia and New Zealand, Australia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands from the Pacific and is likely to see more growth in membership.

The Australasia & Pacific Region (APOR) is one of the six regional chapters of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). It holds conferences every year, and this year Taiwan’s Control Yuan hosted its 31st Conference over a 3 day period.

The first day of Conference saw members providing brief reports from each jurisdiction and was represented by Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Cook Islands.

Seminar 1: Practices and Recent Development of the International Ombudsman Institute.

This session was moderated by Hsiao-hung Nancy Chen, Control Yuan, Republic of China (Taiwan), Member.

Panel speakers were Carmen Comas-Mata Mira, Secretary-General, Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsman (FIO), Head of International Affairs in the Office of the Spanish Ombudsman

Werner Amon, who was recently appointed the Secretary-General, International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and incumbent Austrian Ombudsman

Second Vice President, International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), and incumbent Western Australia Ombudsman.

Seminar Two: The Ombudsman and the Protection of Economically and Socially Disadvantaged People’s Human Rights

This session was moderated by Michael Dick, Chief Ombudsman from the Ombudsman Commission of Papua New Guinea.

Panel Speakers in this session were: Deborah Glass who is the Victorian Ombudsman, but also a Director of APOR

Mei-yu Wang, Member of Control Yuan, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Michael Manthorpe, Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia

Session 3: The Multifunctional Role of the Ombudsman

This session was moderated by Phil Clarke, Queensland Ombudsman, Australia

Panel Speakers in this session were:

Peter Boshier, President of APOR, Ombudsman of New Zealand

Tzong-ho Bau Convener, International Affairs Committee, Control Yuan Member, Control Yuan, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Iitsuka Masao, Director, Administrative Counselling Office, Administrative Evaluation Bureau, MIC, Japan

Elizabeth Rynning, Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, Sweden

Our gracious hosts also offered a tour of Taipei City through the National Palace Museum and the Lin Family Mansion and Gardens.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – Regional Office for the Pacific (OHCHR-ROP) hosted a three day Regional Human Rights and Climate Change Conference focusing on climate justice, national human rights institutions, and migration in the context of climate change in the Pacific from 5-7 August 2019, in Nadi, Fiji

The conference amongst other things considered the negative impacts caused by climate change in the region. The Conference brought together around 50 participants including Government Officials from Pacific Island countries, representatives of civil society regional organisations, international and regional organisations and national human rights institution officials to share their knowledge and help Pacific countries explore ways to raise the visibility of climate change justice, business and human rights, migration, adaptation and resilience including specific sessions to address individual thematic human rights issues.

The three day conference included the following thematic sessions:

• Climate change in the Pacific – Resilience, adaptation and mitigation
• Introduction to Human Rights – The international Bill of Human Rights, and the International Human Rights Mechanisms
• How National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) can champion climate change
• NHRIs and Climate Justice – What roles can they play and how can we build effective partnerships
• Introduction to UN Guiding Principles and linkages with SDGs
• Business responsibility for Climate Change
• Climate induced migration – identifying the issues, developments and key themes
• Ensuring the dignity, safety, and human rights of migrants are protected in the context of climate change
• Ensuring access to justice for those affected by climate change

Of particular interest to Senior Investigation Officer Nootai was these session facilitated by Roberto Cadiz, Human Rights Commissioner of the Philippines. The office is conscious that climate change migration is an inevitability and will take this into account in its strategic direction.

On 31 July 2019 and 1 August 2019 our two senior investigators, Liz Nootai and Joyce Ingram, attended Investigator Training hosted by the New Zealand Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier. The training was held at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi, Fiji.

The main facilitators of the training were from the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman – Director of Operations (North), Shirley Tong, Victorian Ombudsman Office – Strategic Advisor, Amanda Wilczynski, Energy and Water Ombudsman of Western Australia – Director of Energy and Water, Marcus Claridge and NZ Office of the Ombudsman – Principal Advisor, Tracey Harlen. We also had presenters from United Nations Human Rights, United Nations Development Programme and Anti-Corruption.

The two-day training took the investigators through a live case from the assessment through to the final opinion. The techniques and advice given by the experts have already proven to be useful within our local office they have been used to on current cases.

Takeaway from this workshop
• The network of friends and Ombudsman family that our office now has within the Pacific.
• That the message to an agency is of collaboration and not to lay blame.
• Sharing experiences with other investigators – for e.g our investigative experiences in the Cook Islands are so much different to those in Papua New Guinea.

Thank you Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier for allowing our office to be part of this training initiative.