CRITICISM OF ICAC/NSW
By Richard Blake, Member of Whistleblowers Australia
Written 21st August 1998
Submitted to this Website October 2000
This criticism is in the form of
a "Review" of a Report, dated November 1997, that ICAC did about
the effect of the Protected Disclosures Act of 1994 and their own part
in (supposedly) making it effective.
This Review quotes extensively from
that Report, but it also uses the anecdotal experiences of Members of Whistleblowers
Australia and the result of a survey which Whistleblowers Australia did
about treatment of whistleblowers by ICAC.
At the beginning, this Review presents
a brief look at the cultural and historical background of the whistleblowing
situation in N.S.W., including the relationship between Whistleblowers
Australia and ICAC.
It then analyses the practices of
ICAC in depth, and gives comprehensively detailed arguments to the effect
that ICAC was (at that time at least) extremely anti-whistleblower.
At the end, it presents a comprehensive
list of issues and questions.
This Review has been submitted formally
to both ICAC Commissioners who have held office since its completion, viz.
Barry O'Keefe and Irene Moss. Either they have both ignored it, or, just
as probably, they have been kept from it by their minders. We have had
replies from staff, but no response at all from either Commissioner to
its content – (Site Editor's Note: refer to the books Smuggled-2 for more on Irene Moss
and Victoria Police Corruption – 2 for more on Barry O’Keefe.)
It has also been submitted to the
(continuing) Parliamentary Joint Committee on ICAC, i.e. to each group
of people comprising this Committee before and after the State Election
on 27th March 1999. Neither of the two groups has addressed itself in writing
to any of its questions and issues, or given us a reply.
The latter PJC group, in its Report
on ICAC of May 2000 did find that many disclosers are concerned that ICAC
did not investigate their disclosure. It is possible that this Review did
count as part of that evidence. The group then recommended that an Inspector
of ICAC be therefore appointed. However, at present (October 2000), the
N.S.W. Government has not even made a decision yet whether to create the
Office of Inspector of the ICAC.
There is some anecdotal evidence
that ICAC has improved a bit over recent months, but not enough to make
Whistleblowers Australia start recommending them to whistleblowers as a
good avenue for disclosures.
Richard Blake
5 October 2000