Notifying Corruption

Public sector agencies are obligated to notify the CCC of any suspected corruption. 

There are three common forms of corruption.

1. The first is a bribe, where money, or something else of value, is given to an official in return for a favour.
2. The second is abuse of office, where an office holder misuses their power, for example, makes a decision they are entitled to make but does so out of self-interest or a dishonest motive.
3. The third is misusing information that has come to the officer in the course of their duties.

The technical name for corruption under the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003 is serious misconduct. 

Serious misconduct is conduct by a public officer who: 

• acts corruptly or corruptly fails to act in the course of their duties; or
• corruptly takes advantage of their office or employment to obtain a benefit or to cause a detriment to any person; or
• acting in the course of their duties or while deliberately creating the appearance of acting in the course of their duties, commits an offence punishable by two or more years imprisonment.

The Principal Officer (head of agency) of a notifying authority (public sector agency) must notify the CCC of suspected serious misconduct as soon as they suspect on reasonable grounds that a matter may involve serious misconduct.

Suspicion on reasonable grounds requires some factual basis but does not require definitive proof, it merely requires a stronger level of knowledge than mere speculation, rumour, gossip or innuendo.

Please refer to the notifying guidelines for more information:

Notification of Misconduct in Western Australia.