Corruption Matters - November 2018 | Issue 52
Sights firmly set on the engine-room of corruption
The ICAC has bolstered its proactive position on corruption detection by establishing a Strategic Intelligence and Research Unit. Newly created, the unit already has an investigation underway and is forging new ways to advance probes into the sources of corruption in the state.
In July 2018, the ICAC officially formed the Strategic Intelligence and Research Unit (SIRU), which has the dual role of providing strategic intelligence products that identify emerging corruption risks and trends, as well as generating proactive lines of investigation.
SIRU was initiated by the Hon Peter Hall QC, ICAC Chief Commissioner, but its formation and swift results were driven by the full backing of all three commissioners and the entire ICAC executive. It was developed over a six-month period, with the ICAC taking this time to engage with partner agencies to benchmark its potential functions and capabilities. The unit and its unique capabilities provide another valuable nexus between the work performed by the ICAC’s Assessments, Investigation and Corruption Prevention divisions.
The ICAC has acquired state-of-the-art entity-linking software that SIRU uses to enhance existing datasets and to conduct complex social network analyses. It has developed an application — coined “Frontier”—that enables an overarching analysis of all matters referred to the ICAC to identify corruption hotpots, trends, red flags and high-risk entities. It was through Frontier that SIRU was able to identify, scope and initiate its first proactive investigation within its first month of operation.
Analysis revealed a high-risk entity that had been mentioned in multiple complaints to the ICAC, but which had not been investigated due to limited information and opaque networks. Through additional intelligence collection, SIRU was able open up new lines of enquiry and evidence concerning several practices of serious and systemic corrupt conduct. The matter has now be handed over to the Investigation Division for a full investigation. The unit aims to conduct similar analyses across all key government sectors to expose those individuals and organisations that pose the greatest risk.
SIRU is also working closely with the ICAC’s Corruption Prevention Division to undertake environmental scans and thematic analyses.
External engagement is essential to the success of the unit and has already resulted in the development of memoranda of understanding with other agencies, as well as the sharing of analytical tools and tradecraft. The unit has a goal to not only improve collaboration between partner agencies, but to promote the development of interagency projects.