2017-2018 ICAC / OPI Annual Report tabled

The 2017-18 Annual Report of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office for Public Integrity (OPI) was tabled in parliament today.

The Commissioner’s fifth Annual Report shows an increase in the number of complaints and reports made about South Australian public administration and SA Police. The Commissioner said the new police complaints scheme, which accounts for much of the increase, was “working tolerably well I think in part because of the spirit of cooperation between South Australia Police (SA Police) and the OPI”.

Thirty one new investigations were commenced during the year, and 17 were carried over from the previous year. More than 70% of corruption investigations commenced by the Commissioner relate to abuse of power for personal or financial gain. The report talks of corruption investigations becoming more complex and resource intensive.

The Commissioner speaks of the impact of maladministration on public administration, saying “Investigations undertaken during this reporting period have reinforced my view that maladministration remains the biggest threat to public institutions in this state”.

“Maladministration infects numerous public institutions and results in significant and unnecessary loss of public money”.

During the reporting period the Commissioner completed an evaluation of the practices, policies and procedures of the Public Trustee, and commenced an evaluation of the regulatory arm of SafeWork SA. Of evaluations the Commissioner said they have “the capacity to delve into the operations of an agency to identify good practice and to expose weaknesses and gaps”, he goes on to say “I anticipate conducting more evaluations in the future”.

The 2017-18 ICAC / OPI Annual Report can be downloaded from the ICAC website.