Public sector leaders from Gippsland nominated leadership and a strong culture as the two most effective corruption prevention measures used in their organisations at a recent forum organised by IBAC.
Over 60 public sector leaders attended the Integrity Insights forum, held on 20 April 2018 in Traralgon, hearing from speakers including Gary Van Driel, CEO of Latrobe City Council, IBAC CEO Alistair Maclean, Deputy Ombudsman Megan Philpot, Chief Municipal Inspector, David Wolf, Assistant Auditor-General Bill Gilhooly, and Gabrielle Levine, Executive Director for the Gippsland region from the Department of Justice and Regulation.
This was IBAC's fourth regional forum, and provided an opportunity to talk about corruption risks and vulnerabilities, and how to mitigate them to prevent corruption.
IBAC CEO Alistair Maclean said prevention is a very important part of IBAC's work, and opportunities to identify and discuss corruption risks were valuable ways to raise awareness about corruption and how to prevent it.
Those attending the forum nominated conflict of interest as the key integrity challenge faced by public sector employees in rural and regional areas. While conflicts of interest in the workplace are not uncommon, and it is essential to have processes in place to manage them appropriately.
Some of the actions attendees said they would take in their organisations having attended the forum included improving and increasing staff training, and reviewing procurement and recruitment processes.
The next IBAC Integrity Insights forum will be held in Ballarat later this year. For more information or to register your interest in attending, contact engage@ibac.vic.gov.au.
IBAC is also looking forward to bringing Protected Disclosure Coordinators together again for the first Protected Disclosure Community of Practice event later in the year.