Representatives of city and regional Victorian councils appeared at a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) public hearing on Monday.
The Committee is inquiring into fraud and corruption controls in local government by following up on Auditor-General reports tabled in 2019 and 2022.
Those reports are No. 40: Fraud and Corruption Control — Local Government and No. 316: Fraud Control Over Local Government Grants.
The councils scheduled to appear were:
- Greater Shepperton City Council
- Strathbogie Shire Council
- Wellington Shire Council
- Wyndham City Council
- Hume City Council
- Knox City Council
- Loddon Shire Council
- Southern Grampians Shire Council
- Warrnambool City Council
- West Wimmera Shire Council
- East Gippsland Shire Council
- Moira Shire Council
- South Gippsland Shire Council
- Cardinia Shire Council
- Nillumbik Shire Council
- City of Whittlesea Council
- Manningham City Council
- Port Phillip City Council
The Committee is examining “actions taken by Victorian integrity and government agencies to address the issues raised in the findings and recommendations of the two audits,” but will not canvass individual complaints or allegations.
According to reporting by the ABC, one of the councils, Wyndham City Council, is under the spotlight for an IT project which allegedly has run tens of millions of dollars over budget.
The ABC has reported that one of the Council’s councillors has made a referral to Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, or IBAC, regarding the IT project. A referral does not necessarily lead to an investigation.
The hearing was also due to feature the participation of an academic (Dr Allan Yates, Managing Director, Ethikos) and a representative from each of the NSW Office of Local Government and the Victorian Information Commissioner.
The Committee is due to table its report by no later than 20 November 2025.
Leave a Reply