Media Releases

Today, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) tabled its 2023/24 Annual Plan outlining its priorities for the next twelve months, which include high-risk police units, divisions, and regions; and high-risk public sector agencies, including those managing high-value matters.

The annual plan identifies five strategic areas to guide IBAC’s work to prevent and expose public sector corruption and police misconduct.

The strategic focus areas for 2023/24 are:

• High-risk police units, divisions, and regions
• Excessive use of force, including use of force on people at risk
• Police responses to family violence incidents and predatory behaviour
• High-risk public sector agencies, including those managing high-value matters
• Improper influence, including by lobbyists, donors, government-aligned stakeholders and third-party facilitators.

IBAC CEO Marlo Baragwanath said that IBAC had a critical role to play in upholding integrity standards and preventing corruption and police misconduct.

“Along with our own investigations and reviews of Victoria Police investigations, our prevention activities will include the development of a research report on Victoria Police’s handling of police perpetrated family violence,” Ms Baragwanath said.

“We will also expand our ongoing police education program introducing a new 'Taking Charge' integrity reinforcement training program at the Victoria Police Academy.

“To ensure our police oversight work is targeted and transparent to better meet the needs of all Victorians, including communities at higher risk of police misconduct, we will focus on an improved complainant experience and work to build trust in these communities to report misconduct to IBAC. This will include working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations so that they are better aware of who IBAC is and what can be reported to us.

“Our work towards eliminating public sector corruption in Victoria will also continue. A focus on high-risk public sector agencies will target those that are more likely to be vulnerable to corruption because they hold valuable information that could be misused or because they are responsible for high value investments, planning, outsourcing of public services delivery or allocation of funding.

“We will also produce a strategic assessment on corruption risks associated with the water sector and explore prevention and education opportunities to address systemic corruption risks relating to use of public funds in the health sector.”