Media Releases

The report coincides with Mr O'Bryan completing his non-renewable five-year term next week.

"When a Victorian IBAC was being proposed several years ago, there were some who believed Victoria was somehow immune from the corruption that had been exposed in other states by anti-corruption agencies," Mr O'Bryan said.

"Clearly, the work of IBAC in just five years, where we have exposed significant and serious corruption in the Victorian public sector, has put that view to rest."

Mr O'Bryan said IBAC's investigations had exposed serious corruption in some of Victoria’s major government departments, and serious police misconduct, which was understandably of concern to Victorians.

Mr O'Bryan said IBAC's role of providing independent oversight of Victoria Police often attracted the most public interest.

Mr O'Bryan acknowledged there is ongoing debate, including in other jurisdictions nationally, about the best model for ensuring independent police oversight and that Victoria’s Parliamentary IBAC Committee is currently considering this issue.

"I believe IBAC has established a solid track record of providing robust, independent oversight of Victoria Police, within the legislative framework," Mr O'Bryan said.

"IBAC's Operation Ross investigation, which examined allegations of systemic excessive use of force against vulnerable people in Ballarat (currently before the courts), and our other investigations, reviews and strategic initiatives demonstrate the importance of IBAC's independent police oversight role," Mr O'Bryan said.

Mr O'Bryan said that while there were some challenges for the Commission in its early years, the achievements and work of IBAC to date highlights the need for ongoing vigilance to ensure IBAC maintains its independence, that the powers it is given by the Parliament continue to reflect changing needs, and that it remains adequately resourced.

Mr O'Bryan calls for IBAC to be given 'follow-the-dollar' powers, similar to those of the Victorian Auditor-General, as one way to strengthen IBAC's legislation and enhance IBAC's ability to respond to changing corruption risks.

"Public sector corruption often involves complex and well-disguised financial arrangements between public sector and private entities, so being able to 'follow-the-dollar' improves the capacity of anti-corruption agencies to investigate and expose corruption," Mr O'Bryan said.

Another area that he said needed attention was legislation to strengthen IBAC's ability to recover the proceeds of crime.

"Corruption is never a victimless crime. Public sector corruption not only damages the good reputation of the public sector but also robs the community of public funds that should be allocated for the benefit of all citizens to schools, hospitals, transport and other vital community services," Mr O'Bryan said.

Mr O'Bryan said he was proud of the work IBAC has done to not only investigate corruption, and that in five years, there had been significant changes made to the way the public sector as a whole, including Victoria Police, works to prevent corruption.

"A vital part of IBAC's work is our prevention focus. Alerting the public sector to corruption risks and what can be done about them, providing useful research, intelligence, resources and other support, has meant that we are now a very different state from when we started out five years ago. Our public sector is now more informed and much better placed to prevent corruption," Mr O'Bryan said.

Mr O'Bryan said corruption would never be eradicated. "Human nature being what it is, we know we will never eliminate corruption, and while much has and is being achieved, there is no room for complacency when it comes to corruption," he said.

The report outlines how IBAC meets its core legislative objectives of exposing and preventing public sector corruption and police misconduct in Victoria. IBAC's key activities and achievements include:

• assessing 18,869 allegations from the public and departments and agencies
• completing 55 investigations (five involving public examinations)
• publishing 39 public reports, including investigation and research reports
• making 93 recommendations to police and public sector agencies
• reviewing 383 police and public sector investigations
• delivering 321 corruption prevention initiatives.

The Honourable Robert Redlich QC, a former judge of Victoria's Court of Appeal, is the next IBAC Commissioner, commencing 1 January 2018.

Media contact:media@ibac.vic.gov.au  or 0427 480 840