Events

DAVID WOLF:
Well, welcome, everyone. I'm David Wolf, Deputy Commissioner here at IBAC. And to begin with, I'd like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands we are conducting this webinar on today. I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which our office is located and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. Now, to set the scene for you, in this webinar, today we will cover about IBAC's jurisdiction and our broader role, how to make a complaint to IBAC, IBAC's complaint assessment process, and finally, the very important Public Interest Disclosure scheme. This will be followed by Q&A in the second half of the webinar. So, I encourage you to submit comments and questions throughout the event by using the Q&A function, which you'll see at the bottom of your screen. And please note, we're not able to answer any questions about ongoing investigations. If you'd like to turn live captions on, you can do so by clicking on 'Captions' in the bottom of the meeting controls on your desktop, or if you're using a mobile device by clicking on 'Settings' in the Zoom app, then tapping 'Meeting' to turn on the captions.

You can turn on the Auslan interpreter by clicking on 'Interpretation' button at the bottom of your Zoom screen. And if you are experiencing any technical difficulties, please first check that you have downloaded the latest version of Zoom. So, corrupt conduct can impact on all of us. Organisations, individuals and communities can all be subject to corruption. Specifically, though, corruption in the public sector leads to a loss of trust from the community. And that's why we all have the right to speak up. We should speak up and be confident to speak up if we see something that we think is wrong. And this helps us to stop corruption and maintain a trusted public service. In fact, IBAC's objective is to identify, expose and investigate corrupt conduct across the whole of the Victorian public sector. We also have an important role to prevent corruption via strategic research and intelligence, reporting on completed investigations and engagement activities such as this, designed to help inform the public sector agencies and the community.

So, what type of complaints do we assess? And the short answer is a lot and across a very broad spectrum. I think it's important to highlight some of the things that we consider when we decide what to investigate. And these include the seriousness of the allegation, including the severity of any alleged harm or potential harm. Whether there are systemic issues of the conduct that have broader impacts across the public sector. We look at the likelihood of the alleged conduct and will it continue if no action is taken or whether the conduct is historical. And we look at whether the conduct involves a vulnerable member of the community. And we also take into consideration whether or not a different agency is more appropriate to investigate the matter. And I think it's also important to highlight some of the matters that we can't investigate. And these include the actions of people employed by the public sector in another state or territory. We can't investigate federal parliamentarians, federal departments or agencies.

We can't investigate the private sector unless there are public officials and or public authorities that are involved or affected. We don't investigate dissatisfaction with a service or disagreement with a decision. And we don't investigate minor duty failures or service issues by Victoria Police. And we also don't investigate outcomes of traffic or court decisions. So, next, I wanna cover who we oversee and take complaints about. So, our jurisdiction extends across the whole of Victorian public sector, including members of parliament, the judiciary, police, state and local government. So, this adds up to around 300,000 Victorian public sector employees in around 3,500 separate organisations or entities. And when it comes to Victoria Police, we have a broader remit, broader than just the anti-corruption role, and that includes police misconduct matters. With such a large and diverse public sector and local government, it's not possible for IBAC to tackle corruption alone. And that's why the state has an integrity system.

And the following agencies are who we work with and specifically to make sure that a complaint about either corrupt or improper conduct is handled by the most appropriate agency. And as you can see, the Victorian integrity system is comprised of multiple agencies, each with a distinct role but an interconnected functions. They also all have an overarching shared responsibility for protecting integrity in the Victorian public sector. So, in addition to IBAC, the Victorian Ombudsman and the Victorian Auditor-General, there are also the Local Government Inspectorate, which has specific responsibility for the local government sector. The Racing Integrity Commissioner, who has specific responsibility for the racing industry, and the Office of the Information Commissioner, who has a very important role in regulating how the public sector collects and uses and discloses information. So, I hope that overview provided context about our role. And now I'd like to introduce our first speaker for the morning, which is Mr Bruce Rago.

He's the manager of our Early Engagement and Resolution, and he'll explain how to make a complaint to IBAC. Welcome, Bruce.

BRUCE RAGO:
Thank you, David. So, I'm gonna take you through the journey of how to make a complaint, starting from how you can make a complaint to IBAC and what happens in the first stages of the process. So, complaints can be made either online via the IBAC website, over the phone or by email. It is simple to make an online complaint. You can visit the 'Report' section of the IBAC website and choose to either make a complaint or to provide information without making a formal complaint. The website provides helpful advice on the process, things to consider and how long it might take for you to submit your information. There's also a 'Quick exit' button on the top right-hand corner in case you need to exit the website for a variety of reasons, including for your safety. The other reporting option is to call and speak to an IBAC officer, and our IBAC officers can advise you on the best way to submit your complaint. Once we receive a complaint, we will let you know that we've received it and that it is being assessed.

We will provide both the reporting phone number as well as the link to the reporting section on our website at the end of our presentation. So, what do you put into your complaint? It's important to include as much information as possible in your complaint. And key information to include are specific details relating to the who, what, when, where, how and why factors that surround the incidents and circumstances that are related to your complaint. It's also important to let IBAC know if you are at risk, if you are a vulnerable person, in any danger of any matters related to your complaint, or if there's any urgency to the assessment of your complaint. All these factors are taken into consideration when making our decision. During our assessments, we might also contact you for more information to help us properly assess the allegations in the complaint and to ensure that we make an informed decision in relation to the outcome of your complaint. I would now like to hand you over to Sue Kapourelakos, the Director of Assessment and Review at IBAC, to talk about what happens when IBAC assesses a complaint.

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
Thanks, Bruce. Following on from Bruce's information about how to make a complaint and what happens in the first stages of the process, I'm going to take you through the various stages of the assessment journey of a complaint and what might happen. When a complaint comes to our assessment and review team for an initial assessment, we determine the most appropriate action by running the complaint via specific codes of conduct, legislation, policies and procedures to determine how it will progress. Firstly, we acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five business days - often it's sooner than that - and provide information about the assessment process. We will also assess the information and identify allegations. It is important to understand that this assessment process is not an investigation. It's purely the consideration of the information and facts as they're presented. We will also assess these allegations against the Charter of Human Rights and assess whether the complaint is also a public interest disclosure.

Stacey will actually speak in more detail about public interest disclosures shortly. Following this initial assessment... (CLEARS THROAT) Excuse me. Following this initial assessment, IBAC will then assess the information provided under the IBAC Act to determine what action it will take. It is during this assessment that IBAC will decide whether to dismiss, refer or investigate a complaint. Once a complaint has been decided, IBAC will communicate the outcome in writing to the person who has made the complaint. It is important to understand IBAC only investigates complaints or allegations if they meet certain criteria. The threshold for an IBAC investigation is very high and includes evidence of serious or systemic corrupt conduct. To decide this, we consider things such as the nature of the conduct, what would be the penalty for the conduct, for example, if proven, the severity of harm, was there an injury or an amount of money involved, is the issue systemic or a one-off, we also consider the level of culpability or fault, and also whether it would significantly reduce the public confidence in an organisation.

Sometimes a complaint doesn't meet our criteria for an investigation. And in some cases, IBAC may refer allegations or complaints to another agency for investigation because the matter requires action from another investigating agency. In these cases, we refer it to a more appropriate agency, and they would then be responsible for the investigation and the handling of that complaint. If your complaint is referred, you will be notified by the responsible agency handling that investigation, and they will then take on the responsibility of communicating with you. And the third possible outcome is that IBAC may dismiss a complaint for various reasons. Some of the reasons, but not limited to just these, is the timing of when the complaint was reported. If it was reported more than a year after the alleged conduct occurred, IBAC may decide there's been too much time that has passed between the alleged conduct and the reporting of the conduct. The complaint may have already gone through another body and has been previously investigated and there is no new or further evidence to change the outcome of that investigation.

Another reason is the complaint is not within IBAC jurisdiction or maybe a customer service complaint, or is about a member of a community, or the complaint is not based on fact. I will now hand over to Stacey Killacky, Executive Director for Legal Assessment and Review and Compliance at IBAC, to provide you with an overview of the Public Interest Disclosure scheme and information about what happens if your complaint is assessed to be a public interest disclosure.

STACEY KILLACKY:
Thank you, Sue. Today, I'm going to talk about the Public Interest Disclosure scheme in Victoria. Over time, the Public Interest Disclosure scheme has been known by various names, including whistleblower protections or protected disclosures. Today, I'll refer to it either as a public interest disclosure or a PID, as this is a short form way of saying public interest disclosure. IBAC plays a key role in the PID scheme. We operate under the legislation which has been in force in its current form since about 2020. A public interest disclosure is the term used in Victoria to describe a complaint that is made about improper conduct or detrimental action by a public officer or a public body. This includes complaints about Victoria Police. IBAC assesses the complaints and notifications we receive to determine whether a complaint or notification falls within the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. Anyone can make a complaint about improper conduct or detrimental action by public bodies and public offices.

Again, this includes complaints about Victoria Police. This includes members of the public or employees in the public service. Complaints under the PID scheme can be made verbally or in writing. You can also remain anonymous. The PID scheme operates on a no-wrong-door policy. This means you can send it to IBAC. Alternatively, if you send your complaint to another body, say for example, a government department, that government department or body will forward it on to IBAC for assessment. This is an important part of the process so that all complaints and notifications under the PID scheme are properly assessed. So, a little bit about the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. The critical purpose of the scheme is to encourage and support and protect people to speak up against wrongdoing by public offices and public bodies. If you go to our website, you'll see a range of guidance materials, and we also offer training to public sector and the community about the PID scheme. So, what can a PID be about?

You've heard me mention the terms improper conduct and detrimental action in the course of this presentation. These are the terms which underpin the entire scheme. So, what do they mean? Firstly, improper conduct is a very broad concept. It includes serious conduct such as corrupt conduct or conduct that may be a criminal offence, say, for example, bribery. It also includes any conduct that would be serious professional misconduct. Improper conduct also extends to conduct where a public officer or a public body performs their duties and functions dishonestly, or where there is a substantial mismanagement of public resources or a substantial risk to health and safety. Improper conduct also arises where a person works to negatively influence the honest performance by public officer of their duties. For example, if someone was negatively influencing a public officer, to get a license or an approval. On this slide, you'll see the types of conduct by public officers, which I considered to be improper.

This includes fraud, accepting or offering bribes, misusing a position of authority for personal gain. It also includes helping a personal connection to get a job or contract. For example, by not following a proper process or giving inside information about how someone could win a contract. Finally, improper conduct can also include using government property for personal gain. The second term I've been mentioning in the course of this presentation is detrimental action. Detrimental action is one of the types of matters that can be brought to IBAC's attention. We will assess any complaints or notifications about detrimental action to see whether they fall within the PID scheme. So, what is it? Detrimental action is essentially action taken against someone for making a complaint about improper conduct. Everyone has the right to make a complaint about improper conduct, and the right not to have any action taken against them because they made that complaint. This is one of the protections.

The types of action that give rise to detrimental action include intimidation or harassment, discrimination or adverse treatment towards you, say, for example, in your career, your profession or your business. It also includes other action being taken against you which results in a loss or damage because you made the complaint, for example, if you held a contract and that contract was ended because you made a complaint about improper conduct that you became aware of. Detrimental action is not management action. So, for a person to have their performance managed or being asked to attend a type of training, as long as the action isn't being taken because the person made a complaint, which is a public interest disclosure. A bit like above when I was talking about management action, improper conduct doesn't relate generally to rudeness, minor breaches of workplace policy or interpersonal differences of opinion, without more to it. Those, in most cases, are likely to fall within improper conduct.

The PID scheme also only applies in Victoria. Other states and territories have similar schemes, but as IBAC as well as other integrity agencies in Victoria, we cannot investigate complaints about matters that involve other state or federal employees. The PID scheme does relate to the conduct of public offices or public bodies in Victoria. It does not apply to private bodies or private people unless, as I was saying before, they are working to adversely influence the honest performance of public offices or bodies in Victoria. So, now let's talk about the protections that are afforded as a result of the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. There are several legal protections offered to people who have made a complaint which is assessed as a public interest disclosure. These include protections from legal liability for making the public interest disclosure or the complaint, as well as protection from detrimental action, which I've already spoken about. Another protection includes protection from defamation.

However, there are some limits. A person who makes a public interest disclosure isn't protected if they provide false or misleading information. Finally, and the second element of the protections that are provided to people who make complaints is confidentiality obligations. These apply to those public interest disclosures which meet the threshold of a public interest complaint. IBAC will generally decide if that threshold is met. If a complaint meets this threshold, the person who made it will be informed of the protections, which I just spoke about, as well as the confidentiality obligations that may apply. Now, these confidentiality obligations apply both to the complainant, but also more broadly often. So, first, the content of the complaint or disclosure will become confidential and can only be disclosed in certain circumstances. Second, the identity of the person who made the disclosure or the complainant will also become confidential. And again, can only be disclosed in certain circumstances.

It's very important that anyone who makes a complaint that is a public interest disclosure or a public interest complaint understands what obligations might apply to them. It's also important that they understand what they can do to help support them through the complaint process. So, by way of example, even where confidential obligations apply, a complainant or someone who's brought a complaint to IBAC can go seek legal advice. They can seek other supports if they need it, whether it's interpretation or other supports for mental or physical impairments. A person who makes a complaint that is a public interest disclosure can also go seek welfare support. They can seek that support from a registered health practitioner, or they can bring the matters to the attention of WorkSafe if they're making a worker's compensation claim or they can bring a matter before the Fair Work Commission. These are some of the ways that someone can find support if they make a public interest disclosure. I will now hand back to David Wolf, who will take some questions.

DAVID WOLF:
Thank you, Stacy. Thank you, Sue. And thank you, Bruce, so much for providing that information. Very, very valuable information it was indeed. So, hopefully, that does set out the role of IBAC for you with some clarity. It gives you an understanding about our complaints process and importantly, we've spoken in detail about the Public Interest Disclosure scheme, but I've got some questions that I will go to to get some specific information and expand on that. So, you do have the opportunity to ask more questions of us today. And if you can submit those questions, keep them rolling in and we'll get to as many as we can before the conclusion of the event. First question I have that's rolled through is a really simple one, Sue, and it's probably to you as the head of the area. What's sort of volume does IBAC receive in terms of complaints?

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
Thanks, David. If I think about last financial year, so that's the financial year of 2021-'22, and I'll talk to those figures - and if people are interested in more detail about that, it's as simple as just accessing the IBAC annual report on our website - In 2021-'22, IBAC received 3,728 complaints and notifications. All those were assessed, as we've described today, under the IBAC Act, as well as the PID Act to determine firstly, the decision to either refer, dismiss or investigate, but also consider those matters under the various codes of conduct Charter of Human Rights, as well as the Public Interest Disclosures Act. And in assessing those 3,728 matters, IBAC identified - you heard me speak earlier about distilling or identifying allegations - we identified from those matters 5,646 allegations. And of those allegations, we do consider those under both acts, the IBAC and the PID Acts and we identified 747 allegations were determined as public interest complaints. You did hear Stacey speak about what that means.

So, those particular matters, receive the protections under the PID Act around the various elements that Stacey spoke about in detail. And I guess it's important to understand that the communication that we will have with complainants or bodies that notify IBAC, everyone will receive an outcome in writing and always have the opportunity to call in. And we're quite happy to explain the decision and protections if people find it difficult because the PID Act and the IBAC Act are not your average read out there and it's not easy to understand. We are working at improving our communication, so we do encourage people to reach out if they have any difficulty in actually understanding any of our decisions.

DAVID WOLF:
So, just to expand on that, I find that really interesting. So, you mentioned there was over 3,700 complaints which break down into 5,600 allegations. And noting that everyone that makes a complaint to IBAC is vested in that complaint, it's important to them, how much time does it take to actually assess a complaint? And what sort of complexity do some of those complaints come with?

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
That's a really good question. Thanks for asking. Everyone, the assessment process does take into consideration all the information. That information may be a few sentences in an email or a few sentences in an online complaint, or it can be 130 pages worth of information that we've received from either a complainant or an agency. So, we go through the assessment process in reading through that information, we will also consider what information we might already have access to. And in particular, if it's been a notification that we have received from another agency, we will also potentially we may make contact with them to understand important information to assist us in that assessment.

DAVID WOLF:
Thanks, Sue. So, just by my quick calculation, we're dealing with over 100 allegations every week here at IBAC. So, I think I wanna throw to Bruce now and your title of your area is early resolution. So, the question is, what does early resolution mean? How do you look at the matters that you have? And what are some of the ways you have dealing with complaints?

BRUCE RAGO:
So, in terms of early resolution, once we receive complaints, we classify them either as low, medium or high complexity. And mainly early resolution deals with the low-complexity matters. In terms of how we deal with them, often we engage with complainants very early on in the process to seek the relevant information that we need to make our decision. But also given the low complexity, often we do have information available on our systems or previous similar complaints that we have dealt with previously. So, we rely on other intelligence that we may have or information that's available through the complaint. And we try and provide these complaints with an early and quick resolution to the complaint.

DAVID WOLF:
Fantastic. So, clearly, with the volume of complaints that we get and some questions that we are getting through is around what complainants will hear back from us. So, I think, Sue, you mentioned that we'll acknowledge a complaint within five days. And particularly if it's an online complaint, then it's an automatic notification to acknowledge we've received it. But generally, complainants will hear back from us within five days to acknowledge we have received that complaint. But the questions I'm getting are around what can we expect? Will we hear from IBAC in every instance, or are some matters treated and dealt with and decided without further contact with the complainant?

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
So, part of the assessment process is to determine whether further information is required. In some cases, we determine that the information we have is enough to assess the matter under our act. For example, if it's clearly a complaint that's about a federal body, we know that that matter is out of the IBAC jurisdiction and therefore we would not be requesting further information. We would then expedite the assessment through Bruce's team and give that complainant information to understand that it's outside IBAC jurisdiction. However, there may be another body that is more appropriate for them to take their matter. So, we do provide information of if it's not an IBAC jurisdiction matter, we try and redirect that person to the federal body, for example, in this example. In cases where there is no further information and the person making the complaint to IBAC tells us as such in their complaint, whether it's an email or they've used the online complaint, or it may even be a verbal complaint that we've taken and we've asked that question is there any further information that supports the concerns that are being raised, if there isn't, we will then proceed assessing that particular complaint based on the information available to us.

And so, we wouldn't be conducting an investigation. It is an assessment of the information that is available at that time. If further information becomes available after a decision has been made - and I know I get that question sometimes from people that reach out to me - generally we will consider that new information or that further information to help decide whether it bears any weight to the decision already made. So, if that new information isn't quite new information, that information has been considered before, it would not change the outcome already made on that case. But if it is slightly different, we would then assess that new information as a new allegation and put it through the assessment process.

DAVID WOLF:
Thanks, Sue. My takeaway from that answer there is how important it is to understand that when IBAC receives a complaint and were in the assessment space and might be seeking information, that that is not an investigation. And we often understand that complainants might be mixed up and understand that or think that IBAC is investigating a matter where in fact we are still in the information collection phase in order to assess a complaint. So, that's really important. I'm also interested in the avenues available for someone to lodge a complaint. So, we've talked about the online form. What other formats will IBAC accept complaints in both Bruce and Sue?

BRUCE RAGO:
So, at IBAC, we aim to provide an accessible service to the community and we provide a range of options, whether it may be the online complaint form. But if, for example, you may find using a computer difficult, we have the option where you may wish to contact IBAC and submit a verbal complaint. The best way to do that would be to make an appointment and have an officer dedicate some time to listen to your complaint and take it down. Additionally, if English is not your first language, we can organise for a translator to provide relevant services. And similarly, if you have a disability such as a hearing impairment, we can also accommodate for that accordingly. We acknowledge that making a complaint can be quite a stressful process. So, our website does have support services that you may wish to access to assist you in this process, as we acknowledged, can be quite challenging sometimes.

DAVID WOLF:
Thank you, Bruce. That's really important to note. So, there's a number of avenues available for people to lodge their concerns or complaints with IBAC, but importantly, there are support services available for those that wish to make a complaint. But ultimately, we do provide an in-person service via the telephone for complainants and that might be to advise them how to lodge it in the best format or to actually take the complaint at the time. So, it's really important to understand. I wanna move on now to the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. So, we've talked a lot about complaints and Stacy gave you some information about the Public Interest Disclosure scheme and how we assess matters under that scheme and are required to assess matters under that scheme. It's important to note - and I think in the presentation you touched on, Stacey, about the restrictions that come with that scheme both for the complainant and for those parties that are dealing or investigating with the complainant.

So, my first question and sort of come through in some of the questions online around clarity about, do people have to be considered under that scheme and what if they don't want to be?

STACEY KILLACKY:
Thanks, David. So, a person can withdraw their complaint at any time before a decision has been made. If your complaint is a public interest disclosure, the legislation also says that you have 28 days where you can withdraw from the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. The last way that if someone doesn't want to have their complaint considered under the Public Interest Disclosure scheme, they can bring that where they can notify IBAC upfront. So, they might want their complaint only assessed under the IBAC Act or they might want to have it both assessed under both the IBAC or the Public Interest Disclosure Act. So, there are a number of ways that if someone wants to withdraw their complaint, they can do so.

DAVID WOLF:
And in terms of a matter that has been determined by us to be a public interest disclosure and accepted under that scheme, how do we communicate that to the complainant? Is it a formal piece of correspondence?

STACEY KILLACKY:
Yes. So, generally, once we've assessed it under the Public Interest Disclosure scheme, that information will be included in any correspondence that IBAC sends you about the complaint more generally. So, the correspondence will deal with your complaint in two parts. The first part will be about what Sue's been talking about, the assessment of the complaint and what IBAC has decided to do with it. The second part of the correspondence will talk about how we've assessed the complaint in the Public Interest Disclosure scheme. And when we do that, we'll talk about what protections apply and provide information attached to the letter about those protections.

DAVID WOLF:
And out of your presentation, in one of the people that is participating in this webinar has picked up on it as well about restriction on the complainant from disclosing the fact that they've made a complaint once it's a public interest complaint. Can you just talk a little bit more about that?

STACEY KILLACKY:
So, once a matter or a complaint has been determined to be a public interest complaint, I think I spoke about the confidentiality obligations that apply to that. So, a complainant, so the person who made the complaint is permitted to talk about the content of their complaint. And that's a very important part about helping them to get access to support that they need to talk about if it's been a traumatic or just something that's upset them. But identity, a person can't reveal their identity. So, the confidentiality obligations also apply to agencies who are investigating it. So, if an agency investigates a public interest complaint, there are restrictions on disclosing both the content and the identity of the person who made that. So, that's about giving and affording a person the greatest level of protection to feel safe, to bring those matters to the attention of IBAC or an investigating entity.

DAVID WOLF:
Thanks for that. And then the extension of that, the question is, does IBAC ever disclose any details about a complaint or about a public interest complaint? So, perhaps, Sue or Stacey.

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
We won't disclose details. We will take care to protect the disclosure or the complainant and ensure that they have access to appropriate support. So, we will give them information about their particular circumstances and that will be largely guided by what the disclosure or the complainant actually provides IBAC. So, if they share with us that they are going through a stressful period in their life, we will provide them with information of accessible support services that they may choose to access. Although we do acknowledge in every individual case, there are probably supports already engaged by people before they come to IBAC, and we're quite respectful of that. We do take every precaution to protect that person's identity and we don't comment or share that information.

DAVID WOLF:
I think that's just about covered. Stacey, anything more to say on that?

STACEY KILLACKY:
No, I think (INAUDIBLE).

DAVID WOLF:
We've got some very sharp questions here now. The first one is, when I make a complaint, how long will it take for me to get an answer?

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
That's a very good question. We generally aim to respond to people within 45 days, the outcome of the assessment of their complaint. However, we do acknowledge in some cases where there's complexity and quite a lot of information to consider, that will take longer. We do ask for people to reach out to us if they haven't heard. Sometimes it might take up to 90 days or more, and we do try to keep people informed if it's going to be longer than that. Admittedly, sometimes we don't meet that expectation, but we are striving to ensure that we are accessible and provide regular updates to people.

DAVID WOLF:
Thank you, Sue. And I think those timelines might initially sound quite alarming to people. 45 days seems like a long time if you're invested in a complaint and have genuine concerns. I think it's also important to note that often those complaints are dealt with far more quickly than that. And I think you went through some of the parameters that we might look at to elevate them in terms of assessment timeframes. And if those elements are met, then often the complaints are dealt with and might be decided on in a much shorter timeframe. So, just in terms of something you mentioned there, and perhaps, Bruce, you can help out here as well, is what sort of communications can a complainant expect from the very time they lodge a complaint? We've talked about the acknowledgement. What's next after that?

BRUCE RAGO:
So, following the acknowledgement, the case officer will go through the information provided. If there's sufficient information, as Sue mentioned earlier, we'll just proceed with the assessment so that we can give you an outcome as early as possible. However, if there's information that could change our decision, we will reach out to you either by telephone or email or whichever format you prefer for us to contact you in. And we will contact you about your complaint to get that further information that we need to assist us in making our final decision. That's why when submitting a complaint and providing as much information about the who, what, when, where, how, why factors is quite important as it helps us proceed with our decision-making process in a very efficient manner. Sometimes when we do reach out to complainants, it may delay the process depending on how much information we need to seek or how much information they have to provide to us. Therefore, it would be the best if we receive that information first up in your original complaint, and that will give us the best opportunity to make the most informed decision in an efficient manner.

DAVID WOLF:
Terrific. Thank you. Interesting question here. Obviously, someone would think from a governance or legal perspective around the complexities of the legislation and being able to convert that into plain language to correspond to complainants. So, perhaps if I could draw from either Stacy or Sue around the complexities in providing an outcome that sets out our legal responsibilities but is in terms that most complainants can understand.

SUE KAPOURELAKOS:
Stacy, if you're happy for me to take the first part and then happy for you to chime in as well. Sometimes it's important for us to explain the outcome to a complainant so they have an opportunity to have a conversation about the outcome, and then we will follow that up in writing, as we do for all matters. That provides an opportunity to the person to at least have a better chance to understand the legal elements that might be contained in the correspondence. We do try and make our language as easy as possible. However, there are some constraints around legislation that we conduct the assessment within. So, we do want to be transparent about that in our outcome letters. And it is an ongoing focus of how to improve the common English language used within our outcome letters so they are easier to understand. So, it's an ongoing focus area for us. And at any point, if someone does receive an outcome that they quite don't understand because of those legal elements, we do encourage people to call in.

And if their assessment officer is not available at the time they call in, we will make an appointment or they can speak to a manager who is able to talk them through what the outcome is and what it means for their particular complaint.

STACEY KILLACKY:
And the only thing I would add to that 'cause absolutely, we hope to communicate in a way that's easily understood, I think we operate in a very complex legal environment. I think you've heard lots of terms in the course of the presentation, like corrupt conduct, police misconduct, improper conduct, detrimental action. And so, the assessing officers have to look at the definitions for each of those terms when they look at complaints, which obviously adds a layer of complexity. But I can only reiterate what Sue says, that if someone doesn't understand or wants more information about their complaint or our reasons for making a particular decision, absolutely reach out.

DAVID WOLF:
Thank you for that. And I think I'll close out with one last question, and it sort of follows on from what we've just been talking about. And it's obviously from a perspective of a complainant. When they have an outcome that they perhaps disagree with, what's the next steps? How do they seek further information or have their views heard within the IBAC organisation?

STACEY KILLACKY:
I'm happy to kick that one off. Look, absolutely, if someone disagrees with an outcome or a decision that's been made, one of the things, and Sue has talked about it, if there is information that we haven't seen, then we can consider that new information and an assessment of whether it's a fresh complaint. So, I think that's very important when you're looking at what a particular IBAC decision has been is have we got all the relevant information, and that we're very happy to take that into account. If you're dissatisfied, then absolutely you can let IBAC know and we will respond to you. I think that's a really important part. Or someone from the assessment team will reach out to you. And then if you obviously have any complaints about IBAC more generally, there's always the Victorian inspectorate that complainants can reach out to.

DAVID WOLF:
Thanks, Stacey. I think that will wrap up for the questions for this morning. So, hopefully, we've been able to give you a broad understanding of the IBAC jurisdiction, our role in receiving complaints around corrupt or improper conduct under the PID scheme for the public sector in Victoria and Victoria Police as well. And hopefully, also give you an understanding of some of the complexities involved in receiving all those complaints in the volume and some of the challenges in the volume, not just the volume, but the extent to which those complaints cover. So, there's quite a lot of work that goes into this organisation around the complaint management and that then dictates how those complaints will be dealt with in the long run. So, it's a really important part of our business and we take it really seriously. We really try and be as open and accessible to complainants as we possibly can but noting that there is constraints in terms of the volume, the time it takes to assess those matters and not always the outcome will be to the satisfaction of the complainant.

But again, we do what we can to try and explain our rationale and reason to the best extent that we possibly can. So, hopefully, that gave you a good overview of our complaint system. Thank you very much for joining us. I'd ask you, please, to take a moment to complete our feedback survey. There's a QR code which you can see on the screen. If you scan that, it'll take you to a feedback form. And we really do appreciate that feedback. It allows us to tailor these formats and these webinars for future presentations. And you'll also see shortly on your screen a slide which has additional information about IBAC, where to find information in our website, how to make a complaint and our communication tools that we use as well by social media and regular-type newsletters. So, once again, thank you very much for your attendance this morning and hopefully, it's been informative.