An investigation by Victoria’s anti-corruption Commission has found a former Department of Education and Training project manager misused their position when he sourced IT contractors from a company he owned for his personal benefit.
IBAC’s Operation Betka special report, tabled to Parliament today, reveals a project manager failed to manage a conflict of interest when his company provided almost $14 million in contracted staffing resources to the Department between 2003 and 2016.
The Honourable Robert Redlich QC said “IBAC’s Operation Betka investigation found the failure of Department of Education and Training supervisors to properly manage the conflict of interest enabled this project manager to misuse departmental information to improperly influence processes for procuring contracted staffing services.
“The manager was able to bypass proper processes in order to obtain an unfair advantage for his company, which disadvantaged competing IT suppliers but benefited him.
“The Victorian community rightly expects public sector employees to always perform their duties with integrity and impartiality.
“When conflicts of interest are not appropriately managed there is a strong risk that important decisions about the delivery of community services, infrastructure and other vital public projects and services are compromised and are not made in the public’s interest.
“Operation Betka exposed significant organisational failings in how conflicts of interest were managed by the Department, and provides a timely alert to every Victorian public sector agency of the corruption risks posed by the mismanagement of conflicts of interest.
“Operation Betka found the failures of those supervising this project manager were striking. Managers were aware of the project manager’s conflict of interest yet they failed to take meaningful steps to remove that conflict or to effectively manage his conduct.
“The project manager was able to improperly influence the Department’s procurement processes for his own benefit over an extended period. This could have been avoided had his supervisors implemented and enforced a plan to manage his conflict of interest, as they should have done.
“Those in positions of management and supervision are obligated to ensure compliance with all public sector processes and standards. They must always be vigilant in addressing circumstances where conflicts of interest are likely to arise,” Commissioner Redlich said.
The Department has since taken steps to strengthen how conflicts of interest are identified, recorded and managed.
“The vulnerabilities highlighted in this investigation are not unique to the Department of Education and Training, so I encourage all public sector agencies to read this report and review their internal systems, processes and controls around managing conflicts of interest, and particularly around appointing contractors,” Commissioner Redlich said.
IBAC has made recommendations to the Department to address issues including how it detects and manages conflicts of interest and strengthen controls around procurement and recruitment processes, and oversight of contractors. IBAC has asked the Department to report on the implementation of these recommendations by 30 November 2020.
The Operation Betka special report is available on IBAC’s website.
