ICAC investigations find corrupt conduct by two public servants

The NT’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found corrupt conduct by public servants in two separate investigations and recommended sweeping reviews of recruitment within the NT government.

Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Ken Fleming QC. Picture: Keri Megelus

THE Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found corrupt conduct by public servants in two separate investigations and recommended sweeping reviews of recruitment within the NT government.

The damning findings, released on Friday evening, included claims Ashley Brown, a security manager at the Royal Darwin Hospital, stole money and valuables from patients.

ICAC found Mr Brown obtained the position “fraudulently”, and despite a criminal history of stealing, was made responsible for securing patient valuables at the RDH.

The statement said Mr Brown’s conduct was uncovered when he stole $2635 from a patient’s safety deposit box for his own personal bank account.

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In a second investigation, a woman named Shaylee Stan was hired into the Territory Families, Housing and Communities Department by impersonating her references using her husband’s phone.

“She provided her husband’s phone number as her referee number, and then gave herself a positive reference from her previous employer,” the ICAC statement said.

“This was in stark contrast to information provided by the real referee, who stated that Ms Sten was dismissed after an internal fraud investigation.”

ICAC Commissioner Kenneth Fleming said that in both cases better recruitment screening would have prevented these hirings from being made.

“There is a serious improper conduct risk associated with hiring staff who have lied or provided false statements in job applications,” ICAC Commissioner Fleming said.

“Hiring such people can lead to further corrupt conduct, poor provision of services, can affect an agency’s reputation and can impact morale,” he said.

“My office has made a number of corruption prevention recommendations to strengthen the Northern Territory Public Sector’s recruitment framework.”

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