Integrity Commission Act 2009

Integrity Commission Act 2009

This Act may be cited as the Integrity Commission Act 2009.

This Act commences on a day or days to be proclaimed.

The object of this Act is to promote and enhance standards of ethical conduct by public officers by the establishment of an Integrity Commission.

The objectives of the Integrity Commission are to – improve the standard of conduct, propriety and ethics in public authorities in Tasmania; and enhance public confidence that misconduct by public officers will be appropriately investigated and dealt with; and enhance the quality of, and commitment to, ethical conduct by adopting a strong, educative, preventative and advisory role.

The Integrity Commission will endeavour to achieve these objectives by – educating public officers and the public about integrity; and assisting public authorities deal with misconduct; and dealing with allegations of serious misconduct or misconduct by designated public officers; and making findings and recommendations in relation to its investigations and inquiries.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – assessor means a person appointed under section 35(2); audit includes to examine, investigate, inspect and review; authorised person means a person authorised under section 21;Board means the Board of the Integrity Commission established under section 12;Chief Commissioner means the person appointed under section 15; chief executive officer means the person appointed under section 17; complainant, in relation to a complaint, means the person making the complaint, whether on that person's behalf or on behalf of some other person; complaint means a complaint made under section 33 and includes any associated matters relating to the complaint; council-owned company means a company incorporated under the Corporations Act that is controlled by one or more councils or another company that is so controlled; designated public officer means a public officer specified in section 6;DPP means the person appointed as Director of Public Prosecutions under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1973; functions includes duties;Government Business Enterprise means a Government Business Enterprise within the meaning of the Government Business Enterprises Act 1995;Government department means any department established under the State Service Act 2000, or constituted by any other enactment as a department within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000;Head of Agency has the same meaning as in the State Service Act 2000; inquiry officer means a person appointed or required under section 63 to assist an Integrity Tribunal with the conduct of an inquiry;Integrity Commission means the Integrity Commission established under section 7; integrity entity means any of the following:the Integrity Commission; the Ombudsman; the Auditor-General; the Custodial Inspector;Integrity Tribunal means an Integrity Tribunal convened under section 60; investigator means – a person appointed under section 44 or 45; or if the Integrity Commission is conducting an investigation under section 87, 88 or 89, a person appointed by the Integrity Commission;Joint Committee means the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity established under section 23; local authority includes – a council; and a single authority, controlling authority or joint authority established under Part 3 of the Local Government Act 1993; and any other body or authority, constituted or established by or under an Act, having power to levy, or cause to be levied, a rate on any land; member, in relation to a council, means a member of that council elected under the Local Government Act 1993;Member of Parliament means a member of the Legislative Council or the House of Assembly; misconduct means – conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, of or by a public officer that is or involves – a breach of a code of conduct applicable to the public officer; or the performance of the public officer's functions or the exercise of the public officer's powers, in a way that is dishonest or improper; or a misuse of information or material acquired in or in connection with the performance of the public officer's functions or exercise of the public officer's powers; or a misuse of public resources in connection with the performance of the public officer's functions or the exercise of the public officer's powers; or conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, of or by any public officer that adversely affects, or could adversely affect, directly or indirectly, the honest and proper performance of functions or exercise of powers of another public officer – but does not include conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, by a public officer in connection with a proceeding in Parliament;Parliamentary integrity entity means any of the following:the President of the Legislative Council; the Speaker of the House of Assembly;Parliamentary Standards Commissioner means the person appointed to the office of Parliamentary Standards Commissioner under section 27; police misconduct means misconduct by a police officer; political party means a party registered under the Electoral Act 2004 or under an Act of the Commonwealth or another State or Territory as a political party; premises of a public authority means premises at which the business or operations of the public authority are conducted; principal officer, in relation to a public authority specified in Column 1 of Schedule 1, means the principal officer specified in Column 2 of the Schedule opposite that public authority; privilege includes any of the following:all the privileges set out in Part 10 of Chapter 3 of the Evidence Act 2001; the privileges of spouses and others set out in sections 18, 19 and 20 of the Evidence Act 2001; the privileges of the Parliament; proceeding in Parliament means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for purposes of or incidental to, the transacting of the business of a House of Parliament or of a committee, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes – the giving of evidence before a House or a committee, and evidence so given; and the presentation or submission of a document to a House or a committee; and the preparation of a document for purposes of or incidental to the transacting of any such business; and the formulation, making or publication of a document, including a report, by or pursuant to an order of a House or a committee and the document so formulated, made or published; public authority means a public authority referred to in section 5(1); public officer means a person who is a public authority or a person who holds any office, employment or position in a public authority whether the appointment to the office, employment or position is by way of selection or election or by any other manner but does not include a person specified in section 5(2); record includes any account, deed, writing or document and any other record of information however compiled, recorded or stored, whether in written or printed form, on film or in electronic form or otherwise; register of complaints means the register referred to in section 34; relevant public authority, in relation to a complaint made or an investigation or inquiry conducted under this Act, means the public authority to which a public officer who is the subject of a complaint is appointed or, in the case of a public authority who is a person, the public authority who is the subject of a complaint, investigation or inquiry; responsible Minister, in relation to any public authority or part of a public authority, means the Minister charged with the administration of that public authority or part of that public authority; senior executive office means an office created under section 29(4) of the State Service Act 2000; serious misconduct means misconduct by any public officer that could, if proved, be – a crime or an offence of a serious nature; or misconduct providing reasonable grounds for terminating the public officer's appointment;State-owned company means a company incorporated under the Corporations Act that is controlled by – the Crown; or a Government Business Enterprise; or a statutory authority; or another company which is itself controlled by an entity referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c); statutory authority means a body or authority, whether incorporated or not, that is established, constituted or continued by or under an Act or under the royal prerogative, being a body or authority which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another statutory authority but does not include a State Service Agency; statutory office means an office the holder of which is appointed by the Governor or a Minister.

For the purposes of this Act – a reference to a public authority includes a reference to the principal officer and each of the members, officers and employees of the authority; and a reference to an officer of a public authority includes a reference to a principal officer and an officer appointed by or to the authority under any Act; and a reference to a member of a public authority includes a reference to the holder of an office created by any Act who, by virtue of his or her holding the office, is a member of the authority; and a reference to an employee of a public authority includes a reference to a State Service officer or State Service employee; and a reference to a member of a public authority includes a reference to a person who is elected to that authority.

For the purposes of the definition of State-owned company in subsection (1), the provisions of the Corporations Act relating to control are taken to apply as if the Crown, Government Business Enterprise or statutory authority, as the case may be, were a corporation under that Act.

Subject to subsection (2), the following persons are public authorities for the purposes of this Act:the Parliament of Tasmania and any person performing functions or exercising powers under the Parliamentary Privilege Act 1898; a person employed in an office of a Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or other Member of Parliament whether in accordance with the State Service Act 2000 or otherwise, except for a person performing functions or exercising powers under the Parliamentary Privilege Act 1898; a State Service Agency; the Police Service; any person performing functions under the Governor of Tasmania Act 1982; a Government Business Enterprise; the Board of a Government Business Enterprise; a State-owned company; the Board of a State-owned company; the University of Tasmania; a body or authority, whether incorporated or not, whose members or a majority of whose members are appointed by the Governor or a Minister under an Act; the holder of a statutory office; a local authority; a council-owned company; any other prescribed body or authority, whether incorporated or not – to which any money is paid by way of appropriation from the Public Account; or over which the Government or a Minister exercises control.

The following persons are not public authorities for the purposes of this Act:the Governor of Tasmania; a judge of the Supreme Court; the Associate Judge of the Supreme Court; a magistrate of the Magistrates Court; a court; members of a tribunal; members of the Tasmanian Industrial Commission; the Integrity Commission; any other prescribed person.

A reference to a person specified in subsection (1) or (2) includes a reference to that person as it was formerly known.

The following persons are designated public officers:a Member of Parliament; a member of a council; the principal officer of a public authority other than a person specified in section 5(2) in relation to the principal officer's office; the holder of a statutory office other than the Chief Commissioner and the chief executive officer; a commissioned police officer; the holder of a senior executive office; such other persons as may be prescribed.

The Integrity Commission is established.

The Integrity Commission includes the Board, any member of the Board, the chief executive officer, the staff of the Integrity Commission, any authorised persons, assessors, investigators, and any member of or any persons appointed to assist an Integrity Tribunal.

The Integrity Commission – is a body corporate with perpetual succession; and may have a seal; and may sue and be sued in its corporate name; and is an instrumentality of the Crown.

If the Integrity Commission has a seal – it is to be kept and used as authorised by the Integrity Commission; and all courts and persons acting judicially must take judicial notice of the imprint of the seal on a document and presume that it was duly sealed by the Integrity Commission.

In addition to any other functions that are imposed on the Integrity Commission under this or any other Act, the functions of the Integrity Commission are to – develop standards and codes of conduct to guide public officers in the conduct and performance of their duties; and educate public officers and the public about integrity in public administration; and prepare guidelines and provide training to public officers on matters of conduct, propriety and ethics; and provide advice on a confidential basis to public officers about the practical implementation of standards of conduct that it considers appropriate in specific instances; and establish and maintain codes of conduct and registration systems to regulate contact between persons conducting lobbying activities and certain public officers; and receive and assess complaints or information relating to matters involving misconduct; and refer complaints to a relevant public authority, integrity entity or Parliamentary integrity entity for action; and refer complaints or any potential breaches of the law to the Commissioner of Police, the DPP or other person that the Integrity Commission considers appropriate for action; and investigate any complaint by itself or in cooperation with a public authority, the Commissioner of Police, the DPP or other person that the Integrity Commission considers appropriate; and on its own initiative, initiate an investigation into any matter related to misconduct; and deal with any matter referred to it by the Joint Committee; and assume responsibility for, and complete, an investigation into misconduct commenced by a public authority or integrity entity if the Integrity Commission considers that action to be appropriate having regard to the principles set out in section 9; and when conducting or monitoring investigations into misconduct, gather evidence for or ensure evidence is gathered for – the prosecution of persons for offences; or proceedings to investigate a breach of a code of conduct; or proceedings under any other Act; and conduct inquiries into complaints; and receive reports relating to misconduct from a relevant public authority or integrity entity and take any action that it considers appropriate; and if the Integrity Commission is satisfied that it is in the public interest and expedient to do so, recommend to the Premier the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1995; and monitor or audit any matter relating to the dealing with and investigation of complaints about misconduct in any public authority including any standards, codes of conduct, or guidelines that relate to the dealing with those complaints; and perform any other prescribed functions or exercise any other prescribed powers.

In addition to any other powers that are conferred on the Integrity Commission under this or any other Act, the Integrity Commission has the power to do all things reasonably necessary or convenient to be done in connection with the performance of its functions.

The Integrity Commission is to perform its functions and exercise its powers in such a way as to – raise standards of conduct, propriety and ethics in public authorities; and work cooperatively with public authorities, integrity entities and Parliamentary integrity entities to prevent or respond to misconduct; and improve the capacity of public authorities to prevent and respond to cases of misconduct; and ensure that action to prevent and respond to misconduct in a public authority is taken if the public authority has the capacity, and it is in the public interest, to do so; and deal with matters of misconduct by designated public officers; and ensure that matters of misconduct or serious misconduct are dealt with expeditiously at a level and by a person that it considers is appropriate; and not duplicate or interfere with work that it considers has been undertaken or is being undertaken appropriately by a public authority.

In the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers, the Integrity Commission is not bound by the rules of law governing the admission of evidence but may inform itself of any matter in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Integrity Commission is to perform its functions and exercise its powers with as little formality and technicality as possible.

The Integrity Commission is not subject to the direction or control of the Minister in respect of the performance or exercise of its functions or powers.

The Integrity Commission, on or before 31 October or such other date as may be prescribed, is to lay before each House of Parliament a report on the performance of its functions and exercise of its powers under this Act during the period of 12 months ending on the last preceding 30 June.

The report under subsection (1) may be combined with the report under section 36 of the State Service Act 2000.

The Integrity Commission may, at any time, lay before each House of Parliament a report on any matter arising in connection with the performance of its functions or exercise of its powers.

The Integrity Commission may, at any time, provide a report to the Joint Committee on the performance of its functions or exercise of its powers relating to an investigation or inquiry.