Victoria’s corruption watchdog has released its priorities for the next 12 months – and high-risk public sector agencies are in the crosshairs.

Public sector agencies that manage sensitive information, outsource public services and allocate funding will be subject to scrutiny, IBAC says in its 2023/24 Annual Plan.

“A focus on high-risk public sector agencies will target those that are more likely to be vulnerable to corruption because they hold valuable information that could be misused or because they are responsible for high value investments, planning, outsourcing of public services delivery or allocation of funding,” IBAC CEO Marlo Baragwanath said.

The plan says IBAC will develop internal public sector and local government “corruption risk systems” to guide its strategic focus.

It will also publish findings from research into perceptions of corruption among  members’ of parliament and local councillors.

IBAC will look at corruption risks associated with the water sector and address systemic corruption risks relating to the use of public funds in the health sector, the report says.

It will also continue to expose improper influence on public sector decision-making, with a focus on the influence of lobbyists, donors, government-aligned stakeholders and third-party facilitators.

“This includes reporting on investigations that highlight the corruption risks presented by improper influence and proposing reforms to strengthen accountability and transparency,” the report says.

Meanwhile, the plan says IBAC will pilot an “organisational integrity maturity rating scale” to help departments manage their integrity, as well as introducing a new KPI based on the percentage of IBAC recommendations adopted by the public sector.

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