Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher has apologised to a Senate committee for drafting questions for a Greens senator, describing it as "an error of judgment" and a mistake.
Mr Asher admitted drafting possible questions for Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young to ask at a Senate estimates hearing earlier this year.
The questions related to the level of funding his office would receive because of the increased workload arising from Mr Asher's oversight of complaints from the immigration detention network.
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Mr Asher on Monday told the Senate finance and public administration legislation committee he wanted to offer an explanation.
"This was an error of judgment and it was a mistake and I wish to firstly apologise to the committee for that," Mr Asher said.
The ombudsman said he lacked mechanisms in the current system for drawing attention to the capacity of the agency in terms of its budget.
Mr Asher said the complaint handling in relation to the immigration detention network was one of the key priorities of his office.
"My office needs appropriate funds to do that," he told the Senate estimates hearing.
The office was statutorily independent and did not have a responsible minister, a role the Senate committee might consider, Mr Asher said.
Asked by Labor senator John Faulkner why he had chosen to apologise in his opening statement to the committee, Mr Asher said the reaction of the media and members of parliament had prompted him to do so.
"I'd had a great deal of introspection since the publicity came out after the release of these documents," Mr Asher said.
Probed as to whether it had diminished his independence, the ombudsman said he did not believe it had done so in anyway.
"I think the questions in an independence sense were quite neutral," Mr Asher said, adding he and his office were "apolitical".
In future, Mr Asher said, he would consider writing to all senators to raise any issues rather than approach a single senator.
Under questioning by leader of the opposition in the Senate Eric Abetz, the ombudsman said the drafting of the question for Senator Hanson-Young was not justified and would not happen again.
"It was a very unwise thing to do. I really am deeply, deeply sorry in so many ways."
