One in three Victorian business suppliers decided not to bid for public sector or local government contracts last year because of corruption concerns, a survey by the state’s watchdog found.

The survey of 12,000 state and local government employees, community members and public sector business suppliers by IBAC indicates that concerns about  public sector corruption is growing across the board.

Most government suppliers  (86 per cent) said they thought corruption was a problem in procurement, with 33 per cent saying they haven’t bid for work because of their concerns.

Corruption fears were worst among suppliers in the construction and commercial sectors.

Top ranking corruption concerns among business included favouritsm and nepotism, concerns that some suppliers were getting more information during the tender process and questions over contract management.

However the survey also indicated that suppliers are more prepared to report serious corruption in procurement compared to 2016.

Council depots a red flag

Local government employees meanwhile rated procurement, recruitment, favouritism, bullying and harassment as areas most likely to be high risk, with corruption concerns worse among council employees working in depots.

In state government, people working in emergency services, transport and health were more likely to consider corruption a problem compared to other areas of the public sector.

The results showed an increase in the overall perception that corruption in the public sector is a problem since the last two surveys conducted in 2019 and 2016 surveys, IBAC says.

Corruption concerns growing

There were significantly more people across all groups who thought corruption occurred in the state, IBAC Executive Director of Prevention and Communication Dr Linda Timothy said.

“And more than a third of business suppliers we surveyed decided not to bid for public sector or local government contracts in the last year because they were concerned about possible corruption or misconduct.

“This tells us that these areas should be a priority for support and education across agencies and the broader community, and that is something IBAC will be focusing on.”

There were also some concerns about protections for people who make a report about corruption or misconduct, with only a quarter of community members saying they were confident about being protected from victimisation.

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