How effective is IBAC?
The Hon Tim Smith has written a stinging criticism of the Victorian anti Corruption body, set up under the Baillieu Government in his paper “The Victorian Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC): A Toothless tiger?” published by Melbourne University’s Electoral Regulation Research Network (ERRN) and Democratic Audit of Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald, in its editorial, reviewing the Hon Tim Smith’s commentary said,
“Instead of having an anti-corruption commission and parallel bodies, such as the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General, to investigate complaints about the administrative workings and officers of this state, the Baillieu government has devised a complex system of supervision and referrals. The effect is that some complaints will fall short of IBAC’s threshold for investigation, and the status of independent officers such as the Ombudsman will be downgraded and subjected to an extra layer of supervision (the Victorian Inspectorate, which then reports to a parliamentary committee). It all starts to look unwieldy, if not unworkable.”
Links to the two documents are embedded above.