CCC drops probe into claims of nepotism in Rural and Industry Development Authority

Queensland’s corruption watchdog finds no evidence of criminal conduct in a State Government department where one in 10 of the workers are related.

The Crime and Corruption Commission has dropped an investigation into bombshell claims of nepotism within a State Government department after finding no evidence of criminal conduct.

A CCC probe was launched into the hiring practices of the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority after it was revealed about one in 10 of the 166 people who work at the government organisation are related.

Last month The Courier-Mail revealed that, in two cases, three members of the same immediate family were employed at QRIDA.

There are at least six other cases where a husband and wife, parent and child or siblings are employed within the office.

QRIDA referred the allegations made in The Courier-Mail to the Crime and Corruption Commission while its board agreed to undertake an independent investigation of recruitment policies and procedures.

A spokesman for the CCC has revealed the watchdog would not continue its investigation into the agency.

“The Crime and Corruption Commission can confirm it was notified by the QRIDA of allegations of nepotism raised against employees of the QRIDA following media reporting,” he said.

“Following an assessment of the information provided to the CCC, the CCC determined there was insufficient information to raise a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct, and therefore the CCC took no further action at that time.

“The CCC is aware the QRIDA intends to conduct further inquiries into these allegations. If these inquiries identify information that does raise a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct, the QRIDA has an obligation to refer this to the CCC for assessment.”

Last month a former QRIDA employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claimed a culture of favouritism within the organisation.

The worker said staff were regularly made aware of job vacancies and urged to share them with friends and family before a public job ad was posted.

Several emails seen by The Courier-Mail confirm that on several occasions management sought applications for mid-level office staff “from QRIDA staff and known networks only”.

While the jobs were not exclusively offered to friends or relatives of existing staff, the former employee said there was a strong push to hire “known people”.

Last month a QRIDA spokeswoman said the authority “strongly rejects any assertion of nepotism” and said all positions were recruited according to proper public service policy.

“Any person as a member of a selection panel must declare any conflict of interest including if they are a family member, friend or ex-colleague,” she said.

“From time to time, QRIDA will accept candidates from existing staff’s known contacts in order to generate the widest possible recruitment pool.

“All candidates are then assessed on an independent merit-based selection process with any related staff playing no part and having no delegated authority to hire.”