The Commonwealth Ombudsman, Prof. John McMillan, today released a report of his own motion investigation into a review of the operational and corporate implications for the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) arising from alleged criminal activity by two former secondees.

The scope of the Ombudsman’s own motion investigation was limited. It focused on assessing whether the review, which was conducted by independent consultants, met the terms of reference provided by the ACC and whether the recommendations reflected the operational implications identified in the review report. The Ombudsman did not conduct a separate investigation of the allegations of criminal activity.

The Ombudsman concluded that the review conducted for the ACC had been undertaken in a proper manner and made appropriate recommendations. The Ombudsman’s report made two further recommendations to the ACC about developing effective management and compliance systems to address deficiencies identified in the consultants’ review report.

The Ombudsman recommended that the ACC:

• undertake a performance review of managers to address a concern that prescribed policies and practices had not been followed appropriately; and
• implement a system of professional reporting to protect staff so that they can make a confidential disclosure about colleagues.

The Ombudsman also recommended that the ACC implement the package of recommendations made in the independent consultants’ review report. The ACC has accepted all of the recommendations of both reports.

The Ombudsman will conduct a further own motion investigation within six months to monitor the ACC’s progress in implementing the consultants’ recommendations and his own.

A copy of the report is available at www.ombudsman.gov.au.

Date of release: 29 June 2004