Independent Review Office

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Reporting fraud, corruption and misconduct

Learn how to report Fraud, Corruption and Misconduct concerns about the Independent Review Office.

Reporting misconduct or serious wrongdoing

The Office of the Independent Review Office (IRO) does not tolerate fraud, corruption or serious misconduct.

We expect everyone who works with us to act honestly, fairly and within the law. This includes employees, contractors, subcontractors and volunteers. Staff are not permitted to accept bribes or inducements (no matter how trivial these may be), or to act dishonestly or partially as public officials.

It is also policy to report to the police any customers who might offer inducements or bribes to staff to act dishonestly.

If you see something that doesn’t seem right, we encourage you to report it.

What is serious wrongdoing?

Serious wrongdoing includes:

  • corrupt conduct
  • serious maladministration
  • serious and substantial waste of public money
  • a government information contravention
  • a privacy contravention; or
  • a local government pecuniary interest contravention.

Who can report a concern?

Anyone can report suspected wrongdoing. This includes:

  • members of the public
  • employees
  • contractors and subcontractors
  • volunteers
  • people or organisations we work with

Make a Report

You can report fraud, corruption or misconduct to the IRO directly, or through the Department of Customer Service (DCS).

The Whispli Integrity Hotline Reporting Platform makes reporting instances of misconduct or serious wrongdoing a simple process. It’s available 24/7 to raise a concern or make a complaint and you have the option to choose to remain anonymous.

  1. Visit Whispli and submit your report
  2. Call the DCS Integrity Hotline on 1800 577 112.
  3. Report directly to:
    1. the Independent Review Officer (Head of agency)
    2. a nominated disclosure officer - ordinarily, if you are an employee, the most senior person at your worksite will be a disclosure officer. The IRO has Privacy Officers in each business unit. In DCS and associated agencies where an arrangement for DCS to exercise PID Act 2022 functions has occurred, people occupying the following positions are disclosure officers for the purpose of the DCS PID Policy and the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022:
      • the Secretary
      • all Deputy Secretaries (Public Service Senior Executive Band 3)
      • all Executive Directors (Public Service Senior Executive Band 2)
      • all Directors (Public Service Senior Executive Band 1)
      • all staff within the DCS Investigations and Corruption Prevention directorate
      • all Service NSW Service Centre Managers
      • the most senior ongoing employee at each Department of Customer Service office location
    3. email the IRO Privacy Officer at mailto:[email protected]  DCS Investigations and Corruption Prevention team to request contact details in the event you are unable to access the internal DCS directory.
    4. your manager, the person who directly or indirectly supervises you (you may have more than one). Your manager will make sure that your report is communicated to a disclosure officer or the DCS Investigations and Corruption Prevention Team.

You can also make a PID about serious wrongdoing relating to any agency, not just the NSW Department of Customer Service, or to an integrity agency, like the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the NSW Ombudsman.

If you are a public official

If you are a public official, your report may be a Public Interest Disclosure (PID) under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022.

You can make a report by:

  • submitting a report through Whispli
  • calling the Integrity Hotline
  • speaking to a disclosure officer or the head of an agency
  • speaking to your manager, who will pass the report on

If you are a member of the public

You can report any concerns about the IRO or any NSW Government agency to:

Information for employees, contractors, subcontractors and volunteers

All employees, consultants, contractors, subcontractors and volunteers can report suspected serious wrongdoing via the Whispli reporting platform, your manager, or a disclosure officer.

If your report has the features of a voluntary public interest disclosure, the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (PID Act) provides you with legal protections against detrimental action for making your report.

See the DCS PID Policy for more details.

Arrangements with the Department of Customer Service

The IRO has an arrangement with the Department of Customer Service (DCS) to carry out certain functions under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022. See the DCS PID Policy for more information.

DCS also has arrangements with other agencies. Details of these arrangements are available on the DCS website.

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