IBAC grilling on witness welfare

A parliamentary inquiry ordered after a former mayor’s suicide has revealed sweeping terms of reference that will put IBAC to the test.

Amanda Stapledon. Picture: Chris Eastman

A Victorian parliamentary ­inquiry into the state’s anti-corruption watchdog will investigate the agency’s guidelines for calling public hearings and the impact of confidentiality orders on ­witnesses.

Parliament’s integrity and oversight committee has revealed sweeping terms of reference for its inquiry into the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in the wake of the suicide of former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon.

The committee has revealed it intends investigating how the “legal framework” affects witness welfare “including when and under what conditions public hearings are held, and the impact of confidentiality obligations on welfare”.

An April 14 deadline has been set for public submissions to the inquiry and The Australian has confirmed multiple witnesses in Operation Sandon – IBAC’s marathon probe into allegedly corrupt land deals in Casey – ­intend to testify about the impact on their lives.

The former mayor took her life in January just three days after receiving IBAC’s draft report into her alleged involvement in the deals. Witnesses and friends have blamed IBAC for the 58-year-old’s death, saying she never recovered from the public hearing and was isolated by confidentiality orders that prevented her discussing the process.

The committee’s inquiry will also cover the “the experiences of witnesses and others involved in integrity agency investigations (including any matters relating to health, safety, wellbeing and reputation)”.

The policies, procedures and information relating to the “management of the welfare of witnesses and others involved in agencies’ investigations” will also come under scrutiny. The in-house witness welfare support services of IBAC and other agencies will be reviewed.

IOC chair, Labor MP Harriet Shing, has described the inquiry as “important and timely”.

“The committee is keen to hear from interested groups and individuals on witness welfare, so we can make constructive recommendations for any necessary ­improvements as part of the committee’s review of the integrity agencies’ performance.”

On Tuesday, The Australian revealed that IBAC had launched a move to limit an independent performance audit commissioned by parliament, challenging the review’s legal authority and warning there were limitations on what information could be shared with the auditors, Callida Consulting.

And in a separate development on Tuesday, it was confirmed IBAC won’t release the Operation Sandon report until after a court hearing involving a key figure named in its report.

Melbourne property developer John Woodman has sought an urgent Victorian Supreme Court injunction to prevent the watchdog from tabling its report in state parliament.

Mr Woodman’s lawyers have sought the injunction, arguing IBAC denied Mr Woodman enough time to respond to adverse material concerning him in its report, as required by law.

Mr Woodman’s lawyers have also asked for more details of IBAC’s evidence in support of the report. Both parties briefly appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, agreeing to adjourn the hearing until later this month.

Mr Woodman’s counsel Nick Wood SC said IBAC had provided additional material over the past two days.

“We’ve now been given about 50-odd A3 pages of footnotes which we’re reviewing,” he told the court.

“It will take us a while to figure out how much longer we need.”

Justice Tim Ginnane ­adjourned the matter until April 29 to allow the parties extra time.

Counsel for IBAC said its ­report on the investigation would not be presented to parliament until after that date.

Additional reporting: NCA Newswire