A Department of Agriculture staffer created a fake letter using a departmental letterhead saying she had a Comcare claim for which she was owed back pay in a bid to prevent her eviction, an investigation has found.
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The integrity commission probe found the employee engaged in corrupt conduct because her creation of the document would have amounted to an "abuse of office".
She created a letter pretending to be from a "rehabilitation officer," using the name of a former department employee as the sender. The former staff member had never worked as a "rehabilitation officer" and denied signing or sending the letter.
During investigations the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity found the woman used the letter to ask her landlord for patience. She also forwarded it to the state government agency responsible for residential tenancy disputes.
The investigation report, released on Friday, found the worker didn't have a compensation claim, and computer records showed she produced the letter and signed it in the name of the former employee.
In an interview, she admitted to sending it to her landlord and the state government agency.
The employee told investigators she was under severe financial stress at the time and had been trying other ways to clear her rental arrears.
Her actions came to the watchdog's attention because the staff member was part of the area of Agriculture responsible for assessing and clearing vessels and cargo imported into Australia.
In the investigation report, integrity commissioner Michael Griffin said the conduct "fell well short of the conduct reasonably expected by the Agriculture Department".
"Despite the officer’s access to systems and the presence of a financial motive and other stressors, there was no indication uncovered by the investigation that Officer A had taken any other actions that may have compromised the integrity of the Agriculture Department or its important role in safeguarding the border," the report said.
A brief of evidence on the case went to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in February 2017, but the director decided not to proceed with a prosecution.
The employee was suspended by the department and then terminated in June 2017.
Financial stress was a well-known factor contributing to corruption risk, the commissioner said. Departments needed to take steps to encourage staff to come forward if they were experiencing stress and to report risk factors in their own lives. Such processes were already established in the police and defence forces, he said.
"Had the officer sought assistance, the Agriculture Department would have been in a position to
exercise welfare options and/or remove the officer from potential risk. While I cannot know the experience in every workplace, I have every expectation and hope that such an approach would have been dealt with sympathetically, rather than as a basis for action against the individual," Commissioner Griffin said.
