The Queensland Ombudsman is looking into complaints about border travel but will not, for reasons of confidentiality, confirm whether a similar investigation to other states is ongoing.

The office said it had received complaints about border closings covering a “range of issues related to border travel” and that these would be assessed under the Ombudsman Act.

People have filed a number of complaints related to border travel with the Queensland Ombudsman.Credit:Getty Images

However, a spokeswoman said that due to special confidentiality requirements regarding the conduct of investigations, Ombudsman Anthony Reilly will not confirm whether an investigation is ongoing or make any other comments.

The complaints came as that The Victorian Ombudsman released the results of an investigation this week into a decision-making process regarding permit instructions to cross the border.

The investigation found that of the 33,252 exemption requests received by the Victorian Health Department between July and September 2021, only eight percent were granted.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass called the results of some decisions “downright unfair, even inhuman” and said that most of the applications did not even reach a decision maker.

“People felt trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare,” she said.

“It seemed to me that the department was spending significant resources on keeping people out instead of helping them find safe ways to get home.”

Last fiscal year, the Queensland Ombudsman’s office received 266 complaints related to the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for just 3.8 percent of the total.