Media Releases

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) today marked 12 months in full operation.

IBAC is Victoria’s first integrity agency responsible for preventing, detecting and investigating serious corruption in the Victorian public sector, as well as police personnel misconduct.

As at 10 February, there are 12 investigations underway, examining allegations involving a range of government agencies, police and local government authorities. 

A number of outstanding matters which transferred to IBAC from the Office of Police Integrity (OPI) have been completed, some of which were outlined in IBAC’s first special report on operations in November 2013.

Ten IBAC investigations have been completed, and will be reported in further detail as part of a Special Report to be presented to the State Parliament in the near future. 

Further highlights from the first year in full operation include:

• implementing IBAC’s operations, organisational design and structure, including by transferring OPI functions to IBAC
• establishing robust complaints handling systems, with more than 2,200 complaints and notifications received and assessed (of which 390 were assessed as protected disclosures)
• conducting education and corruption prevention programs reaching more than 1,700 public servants, police and local government employees, as well as speaking to various professional bodies and community groups 
• publishing IBAC’s first annual report and, in November 2013, a special report on IBAC’s initial operations, as well as corruption information resources and a fraud prevention checklist
• publishing research on perceptions of corruption in the Victorian community and in the senior Victorian public service
• commencing a local government sector project to strengthen regional and metropolitan council integrity frameworks
• co-hosting a corruption and investigations symposium with Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Victoria, attended by over 200 people
• establishing and chairing an Integrity Consultative Committee, comprising the Victorian Ombudsman, the Victorian Auditor-General, the Chief Municipal Inspector for the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate, the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, the Commissioner for Law Enforcement Data Security and the Public Sector Standards Commissioner.
• IBAC has built an organisation of 143 officers, comprising investigators, intelligence analysts, forensic experts, legal officers, education and prevention experts, communications professionals and others.  Further recruitment is expected in 2014. 

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