SA ICAC complaints rise 10 per cent in 2018-19
SA’s ICAC has received almost ten per cent more complaints in the past year – with almost half about inappropriate conduct or bullying.
SA News
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The state’s anti-corruption watchdog received a rise in complaints about public organisations, workers and police over the past 12 months, new figures show.
Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander QC considered 1229 complaints over the past financial year about alleged criminal or inappropriate conduct, compared with 1121 in 2017-18 – a rise of almost 10 per cent.
Almost 40 per cent concerned claims of inappropriate conduct, workplace bullying, harassment, or “failure to comply with policy or procedure”.
More than 60 per cent involved State Government issues and almost 20 per cent related to councils, according to Mr Lander’s annual report tabled in State Parliament on Tuesday.
He said 36 formal investigations were launched, compared to 31 last year.
In his 85-page report, Mr Lander revealed his office also received 2309 complaints about police officers’ conduct.
From the ICAC investigations, nine cases were referred to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision on whether to lay charges.
Prosecutors laid charges in one case, dropped another, while seven are still awaiting a decision. No details were provided about the types of cases or which public bodies were involved.
The report detailed how a dozen police officers were reprimanded, by either demotion or fines, for offences including abuse of public office, “traffic” crimes and disobeying orders.
This year the ICAC, which operates under draconian secrecy laws, also completed a wide-scale “evaluation” of the state’s safety watchdog, SafeWork SA, while another has been launched into embattled northern-suburbs council Playford in the wake of its high-profile workplace crisis.
Mr Lander will on Wednesday publish a report that will detail his views and concerns about the “conduct and practices in public administration”.