PUBLIC transport ticket inspectors have used excessive force on commuters and been given their jobs without proper screening, according to the state Ombudsman.

As a result of a damning report tabled in State Parliament yesterday by Ombudsman George Brouwer, the Department of Transport has accepted all but one of 14 recommendations to overhaul the ticket inspector regime.

Mr Brouwer's most serious finding involved the failure of the operators of public transport services to refer to the department cases in which ticket inspectors may have used excessive force on commuters.

Between 2008 and this year, public transport operators reported only 14 incidents of possible improper conduct by inspectors to the department, a figure the Ombudsman said was unlikely to have ''represented a true picture''.

After Mr Brouwer notified the department of the possible under-reporting, it changed reporting criteria and more than 66 reports of possible improper conduct were made over two months.