The director of the Australian War Memorial is under investigation over allegations of a breach of the Public Service Code of Conduct.
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The inquiry by the Public Service Commission could cast a shadow over the latter end of Steve Gower's 16-year tenure in the job, due to end in September.
Mr Gower has been accused of breaching the code of conduct and his duties as a public service agency head by making disparaging remarks about his predecessor at a Memorial Day address in 2010.
The former director, Brendon Kelson, says he and his deputy, Michael McKernan made a formal complaint to Public Service Commissioner Stephen Sedgwick last year after they failed in appeals to former War Memorial chairman Peter Cosgrove for an apology from the institution over Mr Gower's remarks.
The commission's probe is ''on hold'' while Mr Gower, who declined requests for comment, is on personal leave.
Acting memorial director Nola Anderson also declined to comment for this article.
The Public Service Commission inquiry will be more bad news for the memorial after it was revealed in this newspaper last month that veteran journalist Les Carlyon was set to be elected the next chairman of the Australian War Memorial's governing council before the Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon removed him from the board in February.
The Canberra Times reported in January last year on the speech that sparked the inquiry, with Mr Gower telling a select audience at the address on November 11, 2010, Mr Kelson's tenure in the early 1990s ''could hardly be said to have been a raging success''.
Mr Gower then went on in his speech to disparage Mr Kelson's ability to manage the memorial's finances.
''As the director, budget control and financial discipline would seem to have been difficult concepts for him,'' Mr Gower told his audience.
The former memorial director has strongly objected to Mr Gower's criticism, previously describing it as ''totally unfair, wrong, ill-founded''. He remains adamant he and his former deputy are owed an apology from the institution or from Mr Gower.
''I believe that the director of the War Memorial breached his duties as an agency head under section 41 of the Public Service Act,'' Mr Kelson said.
''Basically all we were looking for was an apology, a half-decent apology.''
Mr Kelson confirmed that both he and Mr McKernan had been interviewed by Public Service Commission investigators in late March.
In 1995 Mr Kelson and Mr McKernan won a Federal Court action against the then Merit Protection and Review Agency, the forerunner of the Public Service Commission, over an investigation into allegations made against the two men when they were working at the memorial.
A spokesman for Mr Sedgwick declined to issue any information on the investigation into Mr Gower.
''The commission's position on this issue is that it does not comment on individual case matters,'' spokesman Patrick Palmer said.
Mr Gower declined several opportunities to comment on this article.