This report follows on from the report published last year entitled 2020 hindsight: the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New South Wales Ombudsman's aim has been to look back on the second year of the pandemic and provide an account of what has been seen, again primarily through the lens of the complaints received from individuals about the actions taken by NSW Government agencies.

At the time of completing the previous report in early 2021, there appeared good reason to be optimistic even if (as the title to the report suggested) it was well understood that the pandemic was far from over. Unfortunately, the second year of the pandemic has in many ways proved no less challenging than the first. It has presented new issues, including some well-publicised troubles associated with the vaccine rollout and the availability of at-home rapid antigen tests. The second year of the pandemic has also seen greater impacts on frontline services such as health, aged care, schools and prisons, due to staff shortages related to the increasing volume of community infections.