[Peetwo]

Along the same theme...

By Clare Bickers, via the Daily Telegraph...

Public service corruption: Misuse of government resources doubles in 2016-17
Claire Bickers, National Politics Reporter, News Corp Australia Network

January 10, 2018 1:41pm

CALLS for a federal anti-corruption watchdog are mounting as new figures show the number of public servants who misused government resources more than doubled last year.

The number of public servants who say they saw colleagues engaging in corrupt behaviour has also doubled in three years.

Australian Public Service Commission figures show 126 government employees were found to have breached rules around the proper use of Commonwealth resources in 2016-17, up from 50 the year before.

The number of employees who had improperly used inside information or misused their power, status or duties also rose, up from 31 to 64.

And the number of staff who said they saw colleagues engage in corrupt behaviour soared from 2.6 per cent of the total workforce to 5 per cent from 2013-14 to 2016-17.



Australian Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has again called for a national anti-corruption watchdog in the wake of the latest figures. Picture: AAP

Sixty-four per cent of public servants who said they witnessed corrupt behaviour saw cronyism, 26 per cent reported that they had seen nepotism and 21 per cent reported that they had witnessed ‘green-lighting’ — making official decisions that improperly favour a person or company or disadvantage another.

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale has again called for a national anti-corruption watchdog in the wake of the latest figures.

“The idea that somehow the federal government is immune to corruption is laughable,” he wrote on Twitter.

“No wonder people have lost faith in their elected representatives.

“We need a national anti-corruption watchdog. Now.”




Former NSW Supreme Court Judge Anthony Whealy believes the instances of corruption in the public service are higher than being reported. Picture: John Grainger

Overall, the APSC investigated 1720 Code of Conduct violations in 2016-17 and found 1494 breaches.

While the total number of investigations and breaches were down from the previous year, when there were 1999 investigations and 1672 breaches, there was a higher percentage of investigations that found misconduct (89 per cent).

Eighteen per cent of employees who were found to have breached the Code were fired, 76 per cent were reprimanded, 22.9 per cent were fined and 44.85 per cent had their salary slashed.

The APSC highlights the strong culture of ethical behaviour in the public service in its latest State of the Service report, reporting that fewer than 0.3 per cent of the total workforce were investigated for misconduct.

Former New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Anthony Whealy, who is the president of Transparency International, told the ABC the actual instances of corruption in the public service were likely higher given many workers would be afraid to report their colleagues.

Mr Whealy also called for a federal anti-corruption watchdog.

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Via 9 News:

blob:https://www.9news.com.au/54bdc10b-1c3b-4b6f-b33a-04119d683cb0

Calls for federal watchdog to police politicians and bureaucrats

The number of suspected corruption cases within our public service has doubled over the past three years.

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