Natural justice refers to the right to be made aware of, and respond to, an administrative decision which may affect a person.
In the context of an IBAC special report this means that where IBAC intends to include comments or opinions which may be adverse to a person, we provide that person with a reasonable opportunity to respond to those comments or opinions.
The natural justice process requires that a person who is the subject of an adverse comment or opinion is given sufficient information to understand and respond to the adverse material IBAC intends to include in a special report. This includes providing witnesses with a copy of their own examination transcript (if they were examined).
Natural justice: required by law
Section 162 of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Act 2011 (IBAC Act) sets out all the requirements IBAC must comply with before publishing a special report.
These include:
- giving people a reasonable opportunity to respond to any adverse comment or opinion about them that IBAC intends to include in a special report
- giving public bodies and their relevant principal officer a reasonable opportunity to respond to any adverse findings
- if a response is provided, IBAC must fairly set out each element of the response in the special report.