Corruption Matters - December 2015 - Issue 46

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.

APSACC 2015

Mexican journalist, author and human rights activist Lydia Cacho had the audience spellbound at the opening of the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference (APSACC) in November. Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Ms Cacho was riveting in her retelling of “the telephone call that changed [her] life” and led her to becoming the first woman in Mexican history to take to trial an organised crime ring involved in child pornography, sexual tourism and trafficking of women.

In 2000, Ms Cacho founded a shelter for abused women and children in Cancun, Mexico. Since then, it has been a refuge for tens of thousands of women and children fleeing abuse. A published author, she was won numerous awards for her unwavering defense of human rights and journalistic freedom.

She spoke to conference participants about the need for her to navigate a “maze of linking good people” within the Mexican public service over several years to eventually file a federal suit against a governor, district attorney and judge for corruption and attempted rape in prison.

Lydia Cacho's picture

Renowned journalist Lydia Cacho addressed some 500 participants at the opening of the 5th Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference in Brisbane, 17–19 November 2015.

The three-day conference was officially opened by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who mirrored Ms Cacho’s sentiment of the need to put integrity at the top of the public sector agenda.

Keynote speakers included Alexandra Wrage of Trace International, Kerry Schott, former managing director and CEO of Sydney Water and Martin Kreutner of the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. Daniel Kaufmann of the Natural Resource Governance Institute was unable to attend the conference in person and provided a multimedia presentation on how corruption has evolved and strategies to address it.

APSACC is a biennial conference jointly run by the NSW ICAC, the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission and the Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission. The 6th APSACC is planned to take place in Western Australia 2017.

A picture from APSACC

APSACC 2015 officials included [L–R] the Hon Megan Latham, Commissioner, NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Hon John McKechnie QC, Commissioner, Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission, the Hon Annastacia Palaszckuk MP, Premier of Queensland and Minister of the Arts, Lydia Cacho, human rights activist and author, Alexandra Wrage, President, Trace International, and Alan MacSporran QC, Chairman, Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission.

Executive course

In October 2015, 35 participants secured a spot in “Strategic responses to corruption”, a four-day course run jointly by the ICAC and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. Ten of these placements were a result of scholarships that are awarded competitively every year.

The course is aimed at executive and senior managers who have operational responsibility for work areas that have significant risk for corruption. Participants are then able to apply the skills and concepts acquired in the course to the corruption risks identified.

In addition to the executive short course, the ICAC offers free workshops across NSW throughout the year to help public authorities and public officials understand how and why corruption occurs, where the opportunities for corruption may be and how it can be prevented, detected, investigated and addressed. Three new workshops were introduced in 2015 to the existing workshops series.

For detailed information on all training opportunities, visit the Commission’s website. To request an in-house workshop, send an email to workshops@icac.nsw.gov.au or telephone the Commission on 02 8281 5729 or 1800 463 909.

Outreach

The ICAC’s final outreach visit for 2015 took place in December in the Blue Mountains. ICAC Commissioner, the Hon Megan Latham, hosted a community leaders' breakfast, which was attended by local councillors and representatives from state government agencies, schools and community interest groups.

The visit included workshops to increase awareness about corruption risks and learn ways to minimise corrupt conduct. Altogether, approximately 100 people participated in the outreach activities.

back to menu page