SA police ombudsman in 'workload crisis'

South Australia's police watchdog says a lack of funding has created a "workload crisis", preventing the investigation of serious complaints against officers.

Police Ombudsman Sarah Bolt says the added workload of matters referred to her office by the state's new Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has created an overwhelming backlog of complaints.

The ICAC, Bruce Lander, had shown an unexpected interest in "run-of-the-mill" police matters which were neither serious or systemic, Ms Bolt said.

This prevented her office from investigating "very serious" complaints in a timely fashion, she said, causing likely delays of up to 12 months for some issues.

Ms Bolt said there was an enormous discrepancy in her office's budget and that of the ICAC, creating tensions between the two agencies.

The Ombudsman's annual report, tabled in parliament on Tuesday, reveals serious doubts about the agency's future unless it can secure more funding.

"The significant increase in workload as foreshadowed in last year's report has led to an untenable and unsustainable situation," Ms Bolt said.

"It is clear that unless considerable and urgent measures are taken, the viability of the office will become increasingly precarious."

In his first annual report earlier this month, Commissioner Lander said he was concerned SA Police had dealt with internal allegations of misconduct, rather than the Ombudsman.

He said this had the potential to diminish public confidence in the independence of the Ombudsman.

Commissioner Lander referred 82 corruption complaints to SA Police or the Police Ombudsman for investigation in his first year in office, leading to three arrests.

A further 71 complaints were investigated by the Commissioner's office.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General John Rau said Mr Rau planned to meet with Commissioner Lander to discuss his concerns about the Ombudsman.