Summary of changes to the ICAC Act

Although the South Australian public integrity scheme has changed as a result of amendments made to the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 2012, the expectation that public officers perform their roles to the highest integrity standards has not changed.

Speaking up and calling out conduct that does not meet integrity standards is also still expected. All public officers are required to report any conduct they reasonably suspect involves corruption in public administration to the Office for Public Integrity (OPI). It is important that potential corruption is reported to the OPI because the ICAC cannot investigate conduct unless it is referred to it from the OPI.

The definition of corruption has changed, and is now limited to specific offences under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 which relate to public officers, together with offences against the Public Sector (Honesty and Accountability) Act 1995 and the Public Corporations Act 1993. Despite these changes, corruption was and continues to be a criminal offence. It is not important for public officers to know whether the alleged offence in question would fit the new definition of corruption. This is something that is best left to the OPI to assess. The job of the public officer is to report the conduct. The OPI will then determine who the matter should be referred to.

Complaints about misconduct and maladministration in public administration can be reported to the Ombudsman or to the OPI.

We remain dedicated to creating and maintaining an ethical and accountable public sector, and urge public officers to reflect on how they contribute to that goal.

A summary of the key changes can be found here.