Seven people, including the former V/Line CEO and a former manager at Metro Trains, were charged in November as part of IBAC's investigation into serious corrupt conduct in V/Line and Metro's tendering and procurement processes, known as Operation Esperance. The charges relate to the awarding of lucrative cleaning contracts and the receipt of secret commissions by senior V/Line and Metro officers. The first court appearance will be in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 21 December 2022.
IBAC Insights (newsletter)
Investigations and prosecutions update
Catch up on recent IBAC statements and updates about our operations and prosecutions.
A summary of IBAC statements about some of our operations and prosecutions from October to December 2022. For more detail, please see our media releases, or follow @ibacVic on Twitter for our latest announcements.
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IBAC is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of investigations until a report is finalised. The IBAC investigation which was the subject of the recent court injunction has been conducted entirely in private. No public examinations were held as it did not meet the IBAC Act’s thresholds to do so.
When IBAC drafts a report arising from an investigation, relevant people involved in the investigation will be given an opportunity to respond to IBAC's preliminary findings. These responses must then be considered before IBAC finalises the report.
This natural justice process is critical. It would be quite unfair to these persons if preliminary findings or other private information were to become public. Reputations may be unfairly damaged, or witness welfare harmed. No public interest is served in preliminary findings being published. It is for such reasons that IBAC took the necessary step of seeking an injunction.
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In September, amendments were passed to the Victoria Police Act 2013 (Vic) introducing an obligation for police personnel to only access, make use of, or disclose police information if required by their current duties. This is an implementation of Recommendation 1 from IBAC's Operation Dawson Special Report.
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In October, the Victorian Inspectorate (the Inspectorate) tabled a special report in Parliament: IBAC's referral and oversight of Emma’s complaints about Victoria Police.
IBAC Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour said IBAC recognises that Emma and her children are victims of family violence perpetrated by a Victoria Police officer, and their welfare should be a priority.
IBAC statement: Victorian Inspectorate's report on a Victoria Police complaint
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IBAC’s special report Police misconduct issues and risks associated with Victoria Police's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) highlights several incidents, issues and risks with CIRT as well as repeated failures of CIRT officers to accurately report their use of force, a lack of adherence to the Charter of Human Rights, inadequate risk planning and processes, and poor communication by some CIRT officers when responding to incidents.
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IBAC's Special report on corruption risks associated with donations and lobbying sets out recommendations for significant improvements to be made to Victoria’s donations and lobbying regulations across both state and local government.
IBAC calls for improvements to Victoria's donation and lobbying regulations