Data published by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment shows there were 662 investigations into suspected public sector ethics breaches last financial year – slightly down from 707 in 2020-21.

Private investigators conducted 42 of the inquiries last financial year, representing six per cent of all public sector investigations. The majority of investigations – 604 – were carried out internally by public sector agencies.

Twenty of the private inquiries were conducted by the Workplace Investigation Services Panel – a group of five private investigation companies appointed by the Marshall Government in February to investigate suspected code of ethics breaches, maladministration, financial mismanagement and employee grievances.

The former government said the panel would only conduct inquiries into matters that are deemed too minor to warrant the attention of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) or another integrity agency, but serious enough to require external scrutiny.

The panel’s appointment prompted warnings from the ICAC Ann Vanstone about “significant risks” of outsourcing workplace investigations.

Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri, who oversees the private investigation panel, said she would continue to review the panel’s impact.

“During the reporting year, my office established the Workplace Investigations Panel to make it easier and more cost effective for agencies to engage external expertise to conduct or support investigations,” Ranieri wrote in a foreword to her “State of the Sector 2022” report.

“Agencies are using the panel providers and I will continue to monitor its use to evaluate the panel’s impact.

“My office will also refine its guidance on the panel so that investigations are conducted to a consistent standard across the sector.”

Ranieri went on to state that the use of external investigators for public sector investigations “is an accepted practice and are usually reserved for more serious and complex matters, or when a greater level of independence from the investigating agency is required”.

“Although it should be noted that most investigations are conducted internally,” Ranieri said.

Of the 42 private inquiries launched last financial year, 22 were conducted by private investigators who were not part of the Workplace Investigations Panel, according to Ranieri’s report.

Of the 662 investigations launched last financial year, 274 identified ethics breaches, 145 identified no breach and 243 were still ongoing as of June 30, 2022.

The most common ethics breach identified concerned “professional and courteous behaviour”, which accounted for 65 per cent of all recorded ethics breaches last financial year.

“Handling of official information” accounted for eight per cent of breaches followed by criminal offences (six per cent), according to the report.

While the total number of investigations launched into the public sector declined last financial year, the percentage which identified ethics breaches increased from 38 per cent to 41 per cent.

“Additional work is needed to promote ethical conduct across the workforce if we are to see a sustained reduction in investigations, and more detailed reporting on the types of breaches occurring across the sector to remedy with better education and training,” Ranieri said.

The size of the public sector grew three per cent to 113,050 people last financial year, according to Ranieri’s report.