Corruption and Integrity Update – September 2025

In this edition of the Queensland Corruption and Integrity Update we review the latest updates from key Queensland integrity bodies including the CCC, the Office of the Independent Assessor, the Information Commissioner, the Integrity Commissioner, and the Ombudsman. We also highlighted updates on the operation of the Right to Information and Information Privacy Acts.

CCC

Corruption in Focus updated

On 29 August 2025, the CCC released an update to the Corruption in Focus guide, which provides a blueprint for dealing with corrupt conduct in the Queensland public sector, including:

• when notifications should be made to the CCC;
• how to deal with matters that are referred to a unit of public administration (UPA), such as Parliament, the public service and the courts, by the CCC;
• the CCC’s monitoring role when corrupt conduct is dealt with internally by the UPA; and
• practical advice for UPAs when conducting an investigation, including interview best practice and dealing with problems in the investigation.

The key updates to Corruption in Focus relate to the recent amendments to the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 (Qld) (CC Act).

2024-2025 Annual Report

On 26 September 2025, the CCC’s 2024-2025 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament. The report primarily summarises the activities, performance, and achievements of the CCC across the financial year.

Key observations include:

• the CCC received 5,422 complaints of suspected corruption, which represents an eight percent increase on complaints received in the previous financial year. Of these, 622 complaints were triaged as meeting the criteria of serious, systemic, and strategic;
• complaints relating to local governments increased by eight percent, and complaints about other UPAs increased 19 percent. The increases in complaints relating to these organisations is attributed to several factors, including growth in the Queensland population, the impact of reviews and inquiries, and increased demand on government services;
• in the relevant period, 5,567 complaints were assessed, with 3,700 complaints referred to other agencies for investigation. Of the complaints that were referred to other agencies, 39 were subject to oversight, and 274 complaints required outcome advice;
• in the relevant period, the CCC finalised 41 investigations, which relevantly consisted of:
  • six investigations where briefs of evidence were referred to the ODPP for advice as to the suitability of criminal prosecution. One of these referrals resulted in a charge of disclosing a confidential document, with no conviction being recorded;
  • five investigations were finalised in relation to failure of duty, misuse of authority, and misuse of information;
  • one investigation was finalised in relation to misuse of information, with it being determined that the conduct did not satisfy all elements of section 15 of the CC Act;
• 33 prevention recommendations were made on topics that included:
  • improving policies and procedures in relation to appointment processes;
  • implementing an electronic system to record conflicts of interest and management action and strengthening frameworks for managing conflicts and declarable gifts and benefits;
  • strengthening policies and procedures with respect to financial delegations and procurement;
  • reviewing data related to timesheet and payroll to support the detection of fraud; and
  • managing corruption risks in procurement processes;
• a joint working group has been established within the Department of Justice to implement the CCC’s recommendations to modernise the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act 2002 (Qld) to increase the effectiveness, particularly in relation to money laundering and digital assets.

Statement relating to former Townsville Mayor

On 26 September 2025, the CCC issued a statement relating to the former Mayor of Townsville, who had resigned earlier that same day. The CCC indicated that it was currently undertaking an investigation regarding a number of separate allegations, and noted that the investigation will continue, pursuant to section 16(1) of the CC Act, regardless of the resignation.

The CCC disclosed information that relates to the investigation to the responsible Minister, in accordance with section 60(2) of the CC Act, to assist with the functions and duties under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld).

Office of the Information Commissioner 2024-2025 Annual Report

On 30 September 2025, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) tabled its 2024-2025 Annual Report in Parliament. The Annual Report highlights and provides insight into the activities and achievements of the OIC in the 2024-2025 financial year.

Key observations include:

• a key focus for the relevant period was implementing systems and conducting training across the public sector to support changes to the RTI Act and IP Act under the Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (Qld), which commenced on 1 July 2025;
• the OIC received 643 applications for external review, with 645 applications finalised in the relevant period. Of these, 89 decisions were issued, and 506 applications were resolved informally, with a further eight decisions subject to appeal;
• 168 privacy complaints were received, with 18 of these accepted for mediation, 16 referred to QCAT, and 88 finalised on the grounds of declining to deal with; and
• five audits and investigations were made, with reports tabled in parliament, and 18 recommendations made.

Queensland Ombudsman 2024-2025 Annual Report

On 19 September 2025, the Office of the Queensland Ombudsman tabled its 2024-2025 Annual Report in Parliament. The Annual Report highlights the achievements of the Ombudsman in the 2024-2025 financial year, and provides insights into the activities of the office.

Key observations include:

• in the relevant period, the Ombudsman received 12,399 contacts, with 7,006 representing complaints within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.
• of the complaints received, 70.6% related to state agencies, 26.3% related to local councils, and 2.9% related to public universities;
• 1,174 complaints were assessed as involving a human rights element, with the majority of these relating to protection of families and children, right to health services, property rights, right to education, and humane treatment when deprived of liberty;
• of the 6,992 complaints that were finalised, 75 were withdrawn by the complainant, 1,986 were declined, 3,963 were determined to be premature (i.e. the matter had not first been raised with the agency), and 995 complaints were referred for investigation;
• in the 2024-2025 financial year, the Ombudsman finalised 971 investigations, of which three were commenced on the initiative of the Ombudsman. Of these, 22 were withdrawn by the complainant, 133 resulted in rectification of the administrative action, with 185 recommendations made. In 596 investigations, the Ombudsman found that there was no evidence of administrative error, and 217 investigations did not warrant further investigation;
• complaints relating to the Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) rose by 28% in 2024-2025, likely as a result of the removal of the OHO’s internal review function;
• significant number of complaints were received relating to housing and services to the community. The Ombudsman has been working with the relevant department to uplift internal review processes, and identified that the increase in complaints if likely attributable to the increased pressure on social housing in Queensland, the increased awareness of external review through the Ombudsman, and better complaints management within the department.

Office of the Independent Assessor

Oversight of the Independent Assessor

On 27 August 2025, the Local Government, Small Business and Customer Service Committee held a public hearing for the Committee’s oversight of the Independent Assessor (OIA). During the hearing, the Independent Assessor and Deputy Independent Assessor provided updates on the activities of the OIA in the 2024-2025 financial year.

Key observations included that;

• in the 2024-2025 financial year, the OIA received 1,008 complaints, which represented a 15 percent increase on the previous financial year. The OIA could not identify a reason for this increase, but indicated that it could possibly be attributed to the 2024 local government elections and the number of new councillors elected;
• the OIA dismissed 81 percent of the total complaints received, being 816 complaints, being a reflection of the OIA’s efforts to prioritise more serious misconduct;
• 14 complaints were dismissed in the last financial year due to being vexatious or lacking in substance, with one complaint being declared as a vexatious complaint under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld);
• 102 misconduct investigations were being conducted;
• in the last financial year, 17 percent of complaints were made anonymously, with 38 percent of complaints relating to indigenous councils being made on an anonymous basis. The OIA indicated that there are additional challenges associated with anonymous complaints, and a higher percentage of complaints made anonymously were dismissed;
• the OIA progressed 11 misconduct matters from the investigation stage to the natural justice/legal stage, and of those, the OIA only made four applications to the Councillor Conduct Tribunal (CCT);
• the mechanism that permits the OIA to issue statutory recommendations to councillors, rather than pursuing more punitive and time-consuming measures, has proven to be highly effective since its implementation in 2023, with 69 recommendations for training and intervention having been issued in the last financial year;
• the OIA has increasingly dismissed ‘low-level’ complaints, with warnings provided to councillors at this time, and matters escalated when conduct breach issues continue and reoccur;
• in the last financial year, there were 34 requests from councillors for internal review, with decisions being upheld in 30 instances; and
• the OIA routinely engages with local governments to assist councillors with capacity-building activities to reduce the number of complaints received from each local government.

2024-2025 Annual Report

On 29 September 2025, the OIA tabled its 2024-2025 Annual Report in Parliament. The Annual Report highlights the achievements of the OIA in the 2024-2025 financial year, and provides insights into the activities of the office.

Key observations include:

• from 3 December 2018 to 30 June 2025, the OIA received 6,593 complaints about councillor conduct, with an average of 1,000 complaints or notifications each year.
• in 2024-2025, the OIA received 1,008 complaints and notifications, representing 1,106 separate allegations, which represented a 15 percent increase in the number of complaints and/or notifications from the previous financial year. 1,042 complaints were assessed in the 2025-2025 financial year;
• the amendments introduced in the Local Government (Councillor Conduct) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (Qld) allow for complaints relating to former councillors, and historic complaints that are not related to corrupt conduct to be dismissed on assessment, and providing processes for the OIA to recommend training and other measures to avoid further investigation;
• in the 2024-2025 financial year, 48 percent of complaints were from the public and 46 percent were from the local government sector. Of the complaints made by the local government sector, 21 percent were made by councillors There was an increase in the number of councillors that referred their own conduct, being 16 self-referrals, compared to six in the previous financial year. The volume of complaints referred by councillors and other local government employees reflects the mandatory reporting obligations for local government officials in the LG Act;
• 174 complaints were received on an anonymous basis, accounting for 17% of the complaints received in the 2024-2025 financial year;
• of the complaints received, 499 were complaints alleging conduct breaches. Of these, 471 were dismissed, with 22 referred back to seven separate councils to deal with;
• in the 2024-2025 financial year, 102 misconduct investigations were completed, with 10% of complaints assessed being progressed to misconduct investigations. As at 30 June 2025, the OIA had 20 active investigations; and
• in the 2024-2025 financial year, the CCT decided five applications, with a further five full-merit reviews currently before QCAT. Four misconduct allegations are awaiting a decision of the CCT.

Councillor Conduct Tribunal Decision

On 28 August 2025, the CCT published its decision and reasons related to alleged misconduct of a Councillor in their conduct relating to declarations that related to conflicts of interest. The allegations arose after the Councillor was alleged to have failed to properly deal with a conflict of interest, by taking part in a decision by Council when the Councillor allegedly held a prescribed conflict of interest in relation to the decision. The conflict arose because there were concerns as to whether the Councillor had received several gifts, being invitations to attend an event, in a personal or official capacity. While the Councillor had disclosed the gifts in their Register of Interest, and identified the potential conflict prior to participating in relevant Council decisions, the concern arose as a Councillor must not participate in a decision if a prescribed conflict of interest exists.

The CCT was ultimately satisfied that the nature of the invitations received were of a nature that invoked an official attendance. Given that the relevant gifts were “received…by a councillor in an official capacity”, they were excluded by the Local Government Regulation 2012 (Qld) and did not form part of the total amount of gifts received by the Councillor during their term, and no prescribed conflict of interest arose. The CCT therefore found that the two allegations against the Councillor were not sustained.

Office of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner 2024-2025 Annual Report

On 29 September 2025, the Office of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner tabled its 2024-2025 Annual Report in Parliament. The Annual Report highlights the achievements and provides insights into the activities of the office during the relevant period.

Key observations include:

• in 2024-2025, 224 formal requests for advice were received in matters relating to ethics, integrity or interests issues, with 42% of requests finalised within one to three business days of the requests, and 207 advice requests being finalised within ten days;
• there was an 84% increase in advice requests in the 2024-2025 period;
• 190 formal written advice requests were finalised in the 2024-2025 financial year;
• the Integrity Commissioner’s education work continued, with 66 requests for education and awareness presentations, and 57 presentations being delivered;
• the Integrity Commissioner conducted 124 meetings with designated persons, and 245 meetings with stakeholders, being largely attributed to the 2024 Queensland State Election and a significant number of new designated persons seeking advice on integrity and ethics matters; and
• 1,446 lobbying activities were recorded in the Queensland Lobbying Register, by 257 registered lobbyists in 124 registered lobbying entities. Relevantly, 211 enquiries were received about lobbying during the financial year.

RTI and Information Privacy Annual Report

On 29 August 2025, the 2023-2024 Annual Report for Right to information and Information Privacy was tabled in Parliament. The Annual Report details the operation of the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act), and requests under the respective acts, across all Queensland Government agencies, including local government, universities, and hospital and health services in the 2023-24 financial year.

Key highlights of the Report include:

• the total number of compliant RTI and IP applications received by agencies was 18,951, which represented an increase from the previous financial year;
• in the relevant period, 355 internal reviews were commenced, with 628 external reviews commenced, both representing increases from the previous financial year;
• Queensland Health received the greatest number of applications, while Tourism, Innovation and Sport received the fewest;
• the total number of pages considered by all agencies was 3,283,394, with 82 per cent of those pages being released in full or in part in response to access and amendment applications; and
• during the relevant period, no disciplinary action was taken against officers in relation to the administration of the RTI Act and IP Act, and no proceedings were brought for offences.

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Authored by:

Daniel Maroske, Partner
Anna Fanelli, Senior Associate
Caitlin Holmes, Lawyer
Jonathan Kumar, Legal Assistant