Assessment of complaint or report
18E Assessment of complaint or report
On receipt by the Office of a complaint or report, the matter must be assessed as to whether—
it raises a potential issue of corruption in public administration that could be the subject of a prosecution and should be referred to the
Commission; or
it raises some other issue that should be referred to another inquiry agency; or
it is trivial, vexatious or frivolous, it has previously been dealt with by an inquiry agency or a public authority and there is no reason to reexamine it or there is other good reason why no action should be taken in respect of it, and a determination made as to whether or not action should be taken to refer the matter to a law enforcement agency or an inquiry agency.
An inquiry agency may also require the Office to assess, according to the criteria set out in subsection (1), any other matter identified by them in the course of performing functions under any Act.
The
Office may, for the purpose of assessing a matter, by written notice, require a public authority or public officer—
to produce a specified document or a document relating to a specified matter; or
to produce a written statement of information about a specified matter or to answer specified questions, within a specified period and in a specified form, verified if the written notice so requires by statutory declaration.
A person must not refuse or fail to comply with a requirement of a notice under subsection (3).
Maximum penalty: $10 000 or imprisonment for 2 years.
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