Corruption Matters - May 2017 | Issue 49
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.
Registration opens 29 May for APSACC workshops
In addition to the two-day conference itself, the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference will offer six interactive workshops on 14 November 2017. Experts and practitioners from the ICAC, the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission, the NSW Ombudsman and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation will facilitate workshops on corruption prevention management, effective complaint management and investigation skills.
You do not have to be a conference delegate to register for a workshop, but spaces are limited so be sure to register swiftly when registration opens on 29 May.
Corruption prevention management workshops
1.
Strategic approaches to corruption prevention
2.
Corruption prevention for planning professionals
Complaint management workshop
3.
Effective complaint management
Investigation skills and fact-finding workshops
4.
Fact-finder: an introduction to conducting a fact-finding investigation (for non-investigators)
5. Using intelligence to guide corruption and misconduct investigations
6.
Managing white collar and corrupt conduct targets: employing the five-stage grief model – from denial to acceptance
ICAC/ANZSOG scholarship program a great success
For several years, the ICAC has successfully partnered with the Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) to provide an executive short course titled “Strategic responses to corruption”. The course, delivered over four-days by ICAC corruption prevention staff, targets senior public officials in a position to make significant change to how their organisation operates.
The course helps participants develop a deeper understanding of how and why corruption occurs. It focuses on process design and control, information integrity, people factors (such as incentives, group dynamics, values and culture) as well as the corruption implications of various organisational design and structure decisions. Participants consider what changes can be made to the way an organisation carries out its business with a view to making it more resistant to corruption.
In return for developing and delivering the workshop, the ICAC is able to offer a number of scholarships to NSW public officials. In 2015, the ICAC received so many quality scholarship applications that it was agreed that the course would run twice in 2016–17, with the number of scholarships increasing from 10 to 15 per course.
In that period, the ICAC again received a large number of excellent scholarship applications. The course ran in September 2016 and again in March 2017. In each workshop, the scholarship recipients were joined by a number of full fee-paying participants from across the country. Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the most recent workshop receiving an overall score of 4.4/5.
The ICAC looks forward to offering similar opportunities again in the future.
ICAC in regional NSW
In March this year, Acting Commissioner Reginald Blanch AM QC and 11 Commission officers travelled to the north coast of NSW as part of the ICAC’s rural and regional outreach program. The program comprised a week of free workshops for public sector managers and visits with local councils and public sector agencies in Forster, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Grafton and Lismore.
The week ended with a community leaders’ forum hosted by the Commissioner. Community leaders from the public sector, business community, media, charities and community organisations attended the forum in Coffs Harbour. Commissioner Blanch and Deputy Ombudsman Chris Wheeler spoke at the forum to explain the work of the ICAC and the NSW Ombudsman and to encourage public reporting.
The ICAC will visit the Murray Riverina region in August 2017. The ICAC website has information on the workshops that will be conducted by ICAC officers and how to register for them.