Government administration doesn't run on a single system, even within one country — a records request, a complaint, and an appeal each go to a different body, and the body itself often differs again by country. This directory keeps that structure honest: where a genuinely unified resource exists, it's linked directly; where it doesn't (the US has no single federal ombudsman or appeals tribunal, for instance), the copy says so explicitly instead of a guessed link.
Section 1 · Freedom of Information Authorities
The body that oversees public records law — not always the one you actually send a request to.
Understand federal FOIA policy in the US
What: Oversees federal FOIA compliance and publishes the DOJ Guide to FOIA. FOIA requests themselves go to each individual federal agency that holds the records, not to OIP directly — OIP is the oversight/policy body, not a request intake point.
Understand your Freedom of Information rights in the UK
What: Regulates the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations.
Make or review an FOI request in Australia
What: Handles FOI Act requests, reviews, and complaints.
Access EU institution documents specifically
What: There is no single EU-wide FOI authority for member state government records — each country has its own (see the FSA/ICO-style national bodies above for reference). For access to the EU's own institution documents specifically, under Regulation 1049/2001, this is the right starting point.
Section 2 · Administrative Ombudsman Directory
Independent review of a complaint that hasn't been resolved directly with the agency — distinct from Section 3's first-line agency complaint channels.
Escalate a complaint about UK central government or the NHS
What: Handles complaints about UK central government departments and the NHS in England, once a direct complaint hasn't resolved things.
Report maladministration by an EU institution
What: Investigates maladministration by EU institutions specifically — not member state governments, which each have their own national ombudsman.
Escalate a complaint about an Australian Government agency
What: Handles complaints about Australian Government agencies, once a direct complaint hasn't resolved things.
There's no single US federal ombudsman
What: Oversight is handled per-agency in the US — each federal agency has its own Office of Inspector General, or you can escalate through your Congressional representative's caseworker. There is no single unified federal ombudsman body to link here.
Section 3 · Government Complaint Offices
Direct complaint intake at the agency level — this is the first-line channel, distinct from Section 2's independent ombudsman review, which typically comes after a direct complaint hasn't resolved things. These are not duplicates of the Section 2 entries.
File a complaint about a US federal or state agency
What: Federal wayfinding guide to filing a complaint directly with the specific agency involved.
Find a UK government department's own complaints process
What: GOV.UK doesn't publish one central "how to complain about government" page — each department and agency runs its own complaints process. This directory lets you find the specific department first, then its complaints page from there.
File a complaint about a NSW government agency (Australia)
What: Australian complaint intake is state-based. NSW is shown here as a representative example — check your own state or territory's service portal for its own equivalent.
Section 4 · Public Procurement Portals
Find government contract opportunities and published tender notices.
Find US federal contract opportunities
What: The official US federal contract opportunities portal. USASpending.gov is a companion site for researching awarded contract history.
Find UK public sector contract notices
What: Replaced the EU's OJEU/TED system for UK procurement after Brexit (31 December 2020). Since 24 February 2025, both above- and below-threshold notices are published here — previously below-threshold notices used a separate Contracts Finder service, which now mainly carries legacy notices from before that date.
Find above-threshold EU public contract notices
What: Publishes above-threshold contract notices from EU member states, maintained by the EU Publications Office.
Find Australian Commonwealth government contract opportunities
What: Centralised publication of Australian Commonwealth government business opportunities, procurement plans, and awarded contracts.
Section 5 · Government Accessibility Complaint Authorities
Report a government website or digital service that isn't accessible.
File a US government accessibility complaint
What: File an ADA Title II complaint against a state or local government service, including a website. For a federal agency's own site specifically, Section 508 complaints go through that agency's own Section 508 Program Manager.
Report a UK public sector website accessibility failure
What: The enforcement body for the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018. Complain to the relevant public body first — its own accessibility statement lists the enforcement route to EHRC if unresolved.
GOV.UK — Accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps →File an Australian disability discrimination complaint
What: Handles disability discrimination complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, including inaccessible government digital services.
A representative national accessibility complaint body (EU)
What: Enforcement of the Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102) is at the member-state level, not EU-wide — every member state has its own designated body. France's Défenseur des droits is shown here as one representative national example, not an EU-wide authority.
Section 6 · Administrative Appeals Tribunals
Formally appeal a government decision to an independent tribunal.
Appeal a Commonwealth government decision in Australia
What: Reviews decisions made by Australian Government ministers, departments, and agencies — covering areas including social security, the NDIS, migration and visas, taxation, and veterans' entitlements.
Appeal a government decision in the UK
What: Administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service, the First-tier Tribunal handles administrative appeals across multiple chambers — social security, immigration, tax, and others.
GOV.UK — HM Courts & Tribunals Service →There's no single US federal administrative appeals tribunal
What: Appeals processes vary by agency in the US — for example, the Social Security Administration runs its own appeals process, and immigration appeals go through the Board of Immigration Appeals. There is no single unified body to link here.
Section 7 · Open Data & Transparency Portals
Search official government datasets and public spending records.
Search US federal open data
What: The official US federal government open data catalogue.
Search UK government open data
What: The official UK government open data catalogue.
Search EU open data
What: The EU's unified open data portal, merging the former EU Open Data Portal and European Data Portal.
Search Australian government open data
What: The official Australian Government open data catalogue.
Section 8 · Digital Identity Services Directory
The official digital identity system for accessing government services online.
Sign in to US federal government services
What: A single, government-run sign-in credential usable across multiple federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Trusted Traveler Programs. Note: it is not universal — the IRS, for example, continues to use ID.me (below) as a separate, distinct identity-verification service rather than Login.gov.
ID.me — used by the IRS and other specific agencies →Sign in to UK government services
What: The UK's consolidating digital identity system — one login usable across a growing list of government services, with more being added over time.
Verify your identity for Australian government services
What: Australia's digital identity app for accessing government services online. Renamed from myGovID in November 2024 — if you're searching for "myGovID," this is the same service under its current name.
A representative national digital identity system (EU)
What: EU digital identity is implemented per member state under the eIDAS framework, not as a single EU-wide system. Cl@ve is shown here as one representative national example, connected to the eIDAS node for cross-border recognition.