Media Release
Off the Radar report tabled
29 August 2023
Today the Commission’s report Off the Radar was tabled in Parliament. The report outlines how inadequate supervision of staff can lead to impropriety and corruption.
The Commission has conducted a number of investigations where inappropriate conduct by public officers was enabled by inadequate supervision.
Lapses in supervision occur for various reasons. Sometimes it is because an agency has multiple worksites which can separate supervisors from at least some of their employees; it can also occur where an agency relies on staff with particular technical expertise, or because a high level of trust is placed in some individuals.
One matter investigated by the Commission involved all of the above - a workplace remote from its department, with staff requiring specialist skills that supervisors at the department did not have. This unit was simply trusted to deliver. However, the reality was that the staff did not have the appropriate qualifications to perform their work; they did not always record safety incidents, false entries appeared in official documents and they used equipment without authorisation. There were no effective accountability structures to manage the unit’s operations or its people. The results could have been serious.
The report makes six recommendations aimed at improving and strengthening accountability measures.
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