Corruption Matters - November 2014 | Issue 44
In other news
One of the goals of the ICAC is to educate public sector agencies, public officials and members of the public about corruption and how to report it. Training workshops, rural outreach visits and other engagements are undertaken by ICAC staff throughout the year to achieve this goal.
ICAC outreach
From 2 to 4 December 2014, the ICAC will host a program of events in Tamworth. The visit is part of the ICAC’s Rural and Regional Outreach Program, in which ICAC staff meet with community leaders, public officials and members of the public to increase understanding of corruption risk management, provide practical corruption prevention information and advice, and encourage the reporting of corrupt activities.
In June this year, the ICAC conducted a similar outreach visit to Dubbo. More than 160 people participated in the program, which included training workshops for public sector managers and supervisors, a community leaders’ breakfast and briefings for state and local government managers.
National Investigations Symposium
The 10th National Investigations Symposium (NIS) took place between 5 and 7 November at its new location at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Rocks. NIS assists public sector investigators and complaint-handlers to develop their skills and gain insight while networking with fellow practitioners.
The keynote address was delivered by Paul Barry, investigative journalist, author and host of ABC’s Media Watch, who was featured in the June 2014 issue of Corruption Matters. In addition to a variety of topical streams held on 5 and 6 November, full and half-day workshops were held on the final day on covert recordings, administrative law, fact-finding and interviewing techniques.
The NIS is a biennial event run by the NSW Ombudsman, the Institute of Public Administration Australia (NSW Division) and the ICAC.
ANZSOG–ICAC course
More than 20 students, including 10 ICAC scholarship holders, attended the inaugural short course, “Strategic responses to corruption”. Jointly run by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) and the ICAC, the course was held over five days in Sydney on 29, 30 and 31 October, and 13 and 14 November 2014.
The course put forward an approach to corruption prevention that built on past successes in corruption risk management by making fuller use of the controls that are inherent in well-designed and managed operational arrangements.
Participants were introduced to a range of concepts and analytical tools that they can use to identify weaknesses and opportunities in their organisation's operational arrangements that expose it to corruption and then take that information to help them build a leaner, more robust system that is naturally resistant to corruption.
Corruption Prevention Network
The Hon Megan Latham, ICAC Commissioner, was the keynote speaker at the 19th Corruption Prevention Network (CPN) Annual Forum held on 11 September 2014 at Cockle Bay. In addition to the 190 participants at the forum, a further 30 people took part in the inaugural CPN half-day masterclass on 12 September.
CPN encourages practitioners to keep abreast of developments in the areas of fraud and corruption prevention through regular events, an e-discussion and information exchange.