The Corruption and Crime Commission has found a former public servant who downloaded highly confidential documents after resigning their job did not engage in serious misconduct.
The Corruption and Crime Commission has found a former public servant who downloaded highly confidential documents after resigning their job did not engage in serious misconduct.
A CCC report into the matter, relating to a former long-serving Department of Finance employee, revealed the staff member was allowed to download 591 documents – including highly sensitive government documents – over five occasions.
Finance reported the matter to the CCC in March 2023
The investigation found the documents were downloaded to a USB remotely and outside of regular work hours, including after the staff member’s final day, after he was allowed to take a work laptop home to finalise administrative tasks.
During the CCC’s hearing the former staff member said the documents were downloaded to be handed over to his replacement, but that the USB was lost and handover never occurred.
The USB was found months later and destroyed, the witness said.
The CCC pointed out that it was difficult to accept the officer’s reasons for downloading the documents based on the evidence they provided.
But it formed an opinion that the case did not account to serious misconduct – a finding which would require the officer to have “acted corruptly to benefit themselves or another person, or cause detriment to some”.
“The officer's actions in downloading the documents do not reach the threshold for an opinion of serious misconduct,” the CCC wrote.
However, the CCC found the settings in the Department of Finance when the breach occurred left the state open to a misconduct risk.
In its assessment of the policies and procedures in place, it found finance’s policies did not adequately enforce confidentiality, did not conduct exit interviews and raised concerns over the ease with which the documents were downloaded.
It recommended the department reconsider the wording of its confidentiality agreements, and consider implementing new procedures when staff leave reminding them of their confidentiality obligations.
A range of measures have since been put in place at the Department of Finance, the report said.
It encouraged all government departments to consider doing the same.
