00:02Corruption and Crime Commissioner Michael Corboy, welcome to Stateline.
00:06You're asking the government for expanded powers.
00:09Where is there wrongdoing that you'd like to look into but don't have the power to at the moment?
00:14We're seeking the jurisdiction to be able to review and investigate allegations of corrupt conduct by private contractors to government
00:25agencies.
00:26We don't presently have that jurisdiction.
00:30We wouldn't have the power to investigate allegations of misuse of government information.
00:37There were of course serious allegations made against accounting firms in relation to the misuse of information acquired while working
00:46for the Australian Tax Office.
00:48We have a considerable concern around contract workers and the risk of misconduct that that poses within the public sector.
00:59And there have been occasions where we have not been able to pursue allegations against private contractors.
01:06You're also asking for broader powers to look at the conduct of prison officers and public transport guards.
01:14Why do you need those powers?
01:18Public transport authority transit officers and corrections officers have very significant coercive powers.
01:27That is police-like powers.
01:29Powers of arrest, search, seizure, detention.
01:35Powers to be able to use force.
01:38There is very little external oversight of the way in which transit officers and corrections officers use their coercive powers,
01:48whether or not they are using those powers lawfully.
01:52Both Corrective Services and the PTA says that level of oversight is unnecessary,
01:57that they already refer cases to the CCC which aren't investigated.
02:01How do you respond to that?
02:03The PTA have 1,500 incidents a quarter of use of force.
02:12Over three years to June 2026, the PTA reported 10 incidents to the Commission.
02:22That rather suggests to me that there's an under-reporting of the incidents.
02:27In the meantime, how big a gap is there in the state's corruption framework?
02:32One of the difficulties is that we don't have the resources to undertake that sort of work.
02:38We would like to be able to undertake more project work where we investigate the extent to which there may
02:45be misconduct risks
02:46which are not being reported to us but which are nevertheless within the public sector.
02:52We would like to do more independent investigations but our resourcing is such that on most occasions where we form
03:02a view that there is substance in an allegation,
03:05we refer that allegation back to the relevant agency for investigation.
03:12We then review and monitor the way in which that investigation is undertaken and the outcome.
03:17How big is the resourcing challenge for the Commission? How much more money would you like?
03:22Significant. I wouldn't put a dollar term on it but it's significant.
03:25More money, I would do more investigations, I would produce more reports and I'd like to do some project work
03:32around, for example,
03:34the way in which the police deal with domestic violence. It's a huge problem.
03:39I'd like the Commission to be able to see what we can do to improve the way in which the
03:44police can handle what is an extraordinary problem.
03:47I have a concern about the way in which state government databases are being misused for domestic violence, coercive control
03:58purposes.
03:58Is the Commission properly resourced?
04:03I think if you ask any agency head then the answer to that will be no we're not.
04:09What would you like your legacy as Commissioner to be?
04:12That is a very big question.
04:16Well, I'd like the changes that I've been arguing for to be made to our legislation.
04:23I think over the next five years one of the issues that this Commission will grapple with is the rolling
04:30out of AI across the public sector.
04:32I have a concern that that creates different forms of fraud risk.
04:40That's the negative. On the positive, there are ways in which we can be using AI in our work.
04:48Commissioner Michael Corboy, thank you very much for your time.
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