Public hearings fulfil important functions in corruption investigations. They are not show trials.

A thread on the important role they play:

#auspol #auslaw

1/
Public hearings expose corruption. Exposing corruption to the public is a core objective of integrity commissions, as corruption flourishes in the dark.

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Without public hearings, the public would only know that an investigation took place once an investigation report was tabled in Parliament, or a successful prosecution occurred, sometimes years after the fact;

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Public hearings are an effective investigation tool. During public hearings, current witnesses give new information, and new witnesses come forward with information that may be key to the investigation;

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Public hearings act as a deterrent to others that may be considering engaging in corrupt conduct;

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Public hearings ensure investigations are conducted fairly by providing public scrutiny of integrity commissions’ operations, and giving individuals a public platform to speak to allegations made against them;

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Public hearings increase public trust in government and the public sector by demonstrating to the community that allegations of corruption are being properly investigated;

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Public hearings educate the public sector about corruption, which can help prevent future corrupt conduct and encourage public servants to report allegations to the integrity commission.

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If you like this content make sure to follow us (@cpi_aus) and/or subscribe to our research newsletters:

publicintegrity.org.au/subscribe/?amp

9/
Or, even more relevent, sign up to hear our analysis of the NACC in Wednesday's 1pm webinar:

us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

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More from @cpi_aus

Oct 3
Public hearings expose corruption to the public and make investigations more effective. They are not show trials.

A thread

#auspol

1/ Image
NSW ICAC has exposed more corruption to the public than the Victorian IBAC, with 42 public hearings and 39 public reports compared to 8 hearings and 14 reports from 2012/13-2019/20;

2/
Only a fraction of initial complaints are investigated in full. From 2012/13-2019/20, NSW ICAC received 22,297 matters, conducted 297 preliminary
investigations and only 95 full investigations

3/
Read 6 tweets
Oct 2
“This is like good healthcare,” @helenhainesindi says. “You want to prevent it before it happens … It would be far better to make sure that all public officials are educated in a way that they are alert to the possibilities of corrupt conduct.”

#auspol

thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/…
👏👏👏👏
"Archer emphasises it’s not just about criminality but embedding integrity in public life. She notes that as a local councillor, she had ethics training, but she did not receive it at the federal level."

👏👏👏👏
Read 4 tweets
Sep 4
Today we released our investigation into Freedom of Information (FOI) in Australia. This thread will breakdown the problems we have identified and some solutions we propose.

1/

#auspol
Problem:

FOI delays outside the statutory 30-day period have doubled in the past 10 years

2/
Problem:
FOI refusals have increased 50%, while requests granted in full have fallen 30% (from 59.1 per cent in 2011-12 to 41.1 per cent in 2020-21)

3/
Read 10 tweets
Jul 28
"…a politician could be caught out in an act of corruption, defend it, be found guilty and be the subject of scathing observations by a magistrate and then recover his or her costs for having unsuccessfully defended the matter. That's crazy.

1/

abc.net.au/news/2022-07-2…
"It will operate retrospectively, with the potential of reimbursing politicians successfully prosecuted … which is just an extraordinary thing. I've never heard of such a thing."

2/
Mr Watson said there was no disincentive for those involved in ICAC matters to not undertake every avenue of legal appeal, because taxpayers would foot the bill.

3/
Read 4 tweets
Apr 15
Since coming to office, the Morrison Government has spent more than $55b on grants programs.

100% of Audit Office investigations conducted looking into grant administration found flaws.

A thread:

#auspol

1/ Image
The Audit Office concluded that the Safer Communities Fund:


“Funding decisions were not appropriately informed by departmental briefings and, for the majority of decisions, the basis for the decisions was not clearly recorded”

anao.gov.au/work/performan…

2/
The Audit Office concluded that the Regional Jobs and Investments Packages:

“Applications were not soundly assessed in accordance with the program guidelines”

anao.gov.au/work/performan…

3/
Read 13 tweets
Apr 13
Board Director Stephen Charles and Research Director Dr Catherine Williams are speaking with @abcmelbourne about the need to improve integrity in #auspol.

A thread:

1
@abcmelbourne Why is it important?

1. According to @anticorruption Australia’s corruption rating has plummeted 4 points in the last 12 months and 12points since 2012.

2/
@abcmelbourne @anticorruption Why is it important?

2. In excess of $1b have been donated to our political parties from unknown sources. The public cannot know if decisions made on their behalf were influenced by these donations

3/
Read 9 tweets

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