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A senior official at the Department of Home Affairs engaged in corrupt conduct by helping her sister and her sister’s fiancé with a job in the department, a federal corruption inquiry has found.
In a decision handed down on Monday, the new National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said the senior executive service officer in the department promoted her sister’s fiancé as a candidate for a position in the organisation.
NACC said in its report: “The commission found that this was an abuse by the official of her public office: she used her position to procure the transfer of her sister’s fiancé into the department for the purpose of benefiting her sister’s fiancé and her sister, knowing it to be improper.”
The official had praised her sister’s fiancé to colleagues, created the job requisition, approved it herself and forged a witness signature on paperwork to fast-track onboarding, while deliberately concealing the family relationship from others, the report said.
According to NACC, she never revealed the relationship during any part of the process. Additionally, she shared interview questions with her sister ahead of a different hiring process.
NACC said the conduct was serious due to the seniority of the official, “the deception involved”, and the benefits of a public service role.
It said “nepotism, cronyism and undeclared conflicts of interest” in public service recruitment were matters of concern.
National Anti-Corruption commissioner Paul Brereton said in a statement: “[This operation] reinforces the need for strong corruption prevention measures — including mandatory conflict of interest disclosures in all recruitment processes, and prevention of improper disclosures of official information.”
The commission found this was an “abuse by the official of her public office and a misuse by her of official information”.
‘I’m the boss’: private messages revealed
During the hearings, the officer’s private messages with her sister regarding the fiancé’s recruitment were revealed to the NACC.
After the officer responded to a colleague’s query about her sister’s fiancé, she said he was a “friend of a friend”.
Later, she wrote to her sister: “I told them I knew [him] through a friend. Technically not not [sic] true, he just needs to play along! Also, I’m the boss, so they will do whatever I say.”
When asked about this exchange, the officer said it was a “joke between sisters”.
In the same exchange, the officer gave advice to her sister: “He won’t say you’re my sister … Okay, so make sure [he] sells his ability to write briefs. Pick up subjects quickly. Good team member. Loves international work. Able to work across time zones. You are not my sister. He cannot say our surname. Or where you work.”
Her sister would later send a message of thanks to the officer: “Thank you again for helping … I know you gain nothing from it and you are putting yourself on the line for him so it’s truly appreciated xx.”
The NACC said in its report: “[The officer] admitted she knew at the time that she should have disclosed the relationship to senior management.”
The officer has since resigned, but NACC said it would have called for her resignation otherwise.
The investigation was launched after the NACC received a complaint on 19 December 2023.
