Recent media reports have questioned whether the Commission should comment on whether an investigation is underway.
Three reasons why organisations like the Integrity Commission do not generally confirm or deny what they are working on are:
- if we are conducting an investigation, confirming this fact publicly will prejudice our ability to successfully complete it. People may destroy evidence or be influenced by others
- lodging a complaint with us can be a deliberate smear tactic. We do not agree with these tactics, and we don’t want to encourage them by confirming that we are investigating
- the privacy and reputations of people who are complained about need to be respected.
The Commission carefully considers all received complaints. If we decide to investigate, we will publish a report when the investigation is complete, and when we believe it is in the public interest to do so. We also publish statistics about complaints and outcomes.
We may comment on matters that have been discussed by others on the public record – for example, where the facts have been misrepresented.
When we have completed an investigation into a complaint that has been discussed publicly, the subject of the complaint will be advised of the result.
Richard Bingham
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
14 September 2017