Impacts of corruption

Corruption hurts everyone.

Its impact goes beyond corrupt individuals to innocent colleagues who may be implicated, or the reputation of their organisation. Ultimately, Victorians are the ones who lose out from the misuse of power or public funds.

Corruption also erodes the trust we have in the public sector to act in our best interests. It wastes taxes and rates meant for important community projects. This results in poor quality services or infrastructure, or projects never getting off the ground. 

It is in everyone’s interest to report corruption and misconduct.

Impacts of corruption

Corruption in an organisation can result in:

  • financial loss
  • damage to employee morale
  • damage to its reputation
  • focus and resources being diverted away from delivering core business and services to the community
  • increased scrutiny, oversight and regulation.

Corrupt individuals may face:

  • disciplinary action
  • losing their job
  • criminal charges
  • damage to relationships.

Community impacts include:

  • wasted taxpayer funds
  • loss of goods and services
  • lower community confidence in public authorities
  • disadvantage to honest businesses seeking to win government contracts.