While most of the territory's 16-month-old Professional Standards Unit's investigations examine minor breaches of the Public Sector Management Act, a handful also dealt with more serious matters; from inappropriate disclosures of information to three "substantiated conflicts of interest".

Figures obtained by The Canberra Times show that in the past two financial years - including the six month period before territory directorates were mandated to refer allegations to the unit - the unit found 48 "substantiated" breaches of section 9 of the Act in 2015-16 and 57 such breaches in 2016-17.

ACT government data also shows the unit investigated two cases where the "abuse of position for personal advantage" was found and seven investigations where "inappropriate use of, or access to, information or records" was found in the calendar year 2016, its first full year of operation.

The unit also conducted four investigations where "inappropriate disclosure or release of information" was found; one finding of the "improper use of government resources or property" and one investigation found breaches of the Act related to procurement, contracts or tenders during 2016.

But the numbers do not tally, as some investigations start and finish in different years and others may discover multiple breaches.

Disciplinary sanctions included 21 "written warnings or admonishment", 14 employees getting "counselling", eight transfers and 11 sackings, while nine staff "resigned prior to sanction being imposed" in the 2015-16 year.

Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate deputy director-general Bronwen Overton-Clarke said the unit was set up to help provide more consistency and "quality of practice" for investigations across the public service.

She said the changes also forced directorates to refer allegations to the unit, rather than investigate them internally or contract "external providers".

"[But] in some circumstances we still could use an external provider, when we need the process to be even further at arms length, or there is a need for specialised, detailed services," Ms Overton-Clarke said.

CMTEDD public sector management director Judi Childs, who oversees the unit, said the number of external investigations completed fell from "about 30 or 40" before the unit was set up, to only five such probes since.

Ms Overton-Clarke also said the 50-odd substantiated investigations in each of the past two years showed those doing the wrong thing were "only a very small proportion" of the ACT government's 22,000-odd workforce.

She said the aim was to help public servants understand their responsibilities and to help "embed" appropriate behaviour to ultimately reduce the number of investigations.

Ms Childs said the top three types of allegations the unit examined related to "inappropriate behaviour and failures to treat other with respect and courtesy"; a "failure to follow a lawful direction, policy or workplace procedure"; and those involving a "lack of integrity, probity, lying, making misleading statements [or] concealment".

She said she was aware of the odd criminal investigation that had also run parallel to the unit's investigations, but both agencies worked together to ensure neither party compromised the others' investigation.

While the government would not detail how many investigations had been conducted into each individual directorate, Ms Overton-Clarke said it was closely related to the size of the directorate and whether the agency had a "service delivery role".

But she did confirm the health, education and emergency services directorates were among those agencies with higher numbers of investigations into allegations.

"It's often in a pressurised environment, where staff are dealing with very difficult clients with particular needs, or where people are working rosters that go over eight hours," she said.