COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL POLICY
– s 48A of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001

POLICY ID 1.25

Version 2.0 (July 2023)

Human Rights

Decision makers must act and make decisions in a way that is compatible with human rights and give proper consideration to a human right relevant to a decision, as required by s 58 of the Human Rights Act 2019. For further information please contact BPEQ.

1. OBJECTIVE

The Registrar is the public official of the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland (the Board).
The objective of this policy is to set out how the Board will deal with a complaint
(also information or matter)¹ that involves or may involve corrupt conduct² of its
public official as defined in the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 (the “CC Act”).

2. POLICY RATIONALE

The policy is designed to assist the Board to:

1. Comply with s 48A of the CC Act
2. Promote public confidence in the way suspected corrupt conduct of the public official for the Board is dealt with (s 34(c) CC Act)
3. Promote accountability, integrity and transparency in the way the Board deals with a complaint that is suspected to involve, or may involve, corrupt conduct of the public official.

3. DEFINITIONS

4. POLICY APPLICATION

This policy applies:

• if there are grounds to suspect that a complaint may involve corrupt conduct of the Registrar of the Board; and
• to all persons who hold an appointment in, or are employees of, the Board.

For the purpose of this policy a complaint includes information or matter.³

5. NOMINATED PERSON

Having regard to s 48A(2) and (3) of the CC Act, this policy nominates:

•  the Principal Lawyer, Governance and Registrations
• the Principal Legal Officer, Legal Compliance and Investigations Unit, in the absence or unavailability of the Principal Lawyer, Governance and Registrations
  to notify⁴ the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) of the complaint and to deal with the complaint under the CC Act.⁵
  The CC Act applies as if a reference about notifying or dealing with the complaint to the public official/CEO is a reference to the nominated person.⁶

6. COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE REGISTRAR

If a complaint may involve an allegation of corrupt conduct of the Registrar of the Board, the complaint may be reported to:

• the nominated person, or
• a person to whom there is an obligation to report under an Act⁷ (this does not include an obligation imposed by ss 37, 38 and 39(1) of the CC Act).

If there is uncertainty about whether or not a complaint should be reported, it is best to report it to the nominated person.
If the nominated person reasonably suspects the complaint may involve corrupt conduct of the Registrar, they are to:

(a) notify the CCC of the complaint⁸, and
(b) deal with the complaint, subject to the CCC’s monitoring role, when –

• directions issued under section 40 of the CC Act apply to the complaint, or
pursuant to s 46 of the CC Act, the CCC refers the complaint to the nominated person to deal with.⁹

If the Registrar reasonably suspects that the complaint may involve corrupt conduct on their part, the public official must:

(i) report the complaint to the nominated person as soon as practicable and may also notify the CCC; and
(ii) take no further action to deal with the complaint unless requested to do so by the nominated person in consultation with the Board.

Where directions issued under section 40 of the CC Act apply to the complaint:

(i) the nominated person is to deal with the complaint, and
(ii) the Registrar is to take no further action to deal with the complaint unless requested to do so by the nominated person in consultation with the CCC.

7. RECORDING REQUIREMENTS

Should the nominated person decide that a complaint, or information or matter, about alleged corrupt conduct of the Registrar is not required to be notified to the CCC under s 38 of the CC Act, the nominated person must make a record of the decision that complies with s 40A of the CC Act.

8. RESOURCING THE NOMINATED PERSON

If pursuant to ss 40 or 46 of the CC Act, the nominated person has responsibility to deal with the complaint¹¹:

(i) the Board will ensure that sufficient resources are available to the nominated person to enable them to deal with the complaint appropriately¹², and
(ii) the nominated person is to ensure that consultations, if any, for the purpose of securing resources sufficient to deal with the complaint appropriately are confidential and are not disclosed, other than to the CCC, without:
• authorisation under a law of the Commonwealth or the State, or
• the consent of the nominated person responsible for dealing with the complaint
(iii) the nominated person must, at all times, use their best endeavours to act independently, impartially and fairly having regard to the:
• purposes of the CC Act¹³
• the importance of promoting public confidence in the way suspected corrupt conduct in the Board is dealt with¹⁴, and
• the Board’s statutory, policy and procedural framework.

If the nominated person has responsibility to deal with the complaint, they:

• are delegated the same authority, functions and powers as the Registrar to direct and control staff of the Board as if the nominated person is the public official of the Board for the purpose of dealing with the complaint only;
• are delegated the same authority, functions and powers as the Registrar to enter into contracts on behalf of the Board for the purpose of dealing with the complaint;
• do not have any authority, function or power that cannot — under the law of the Commonwealth or the State — be delegated by either the Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen and Minister for Public Works and Procurement or the Registrar, to the nominated person.

9. LIASING WITH THE CCC

The Registrar is to keep the CCC and the nominated person informed of:

• the contact details for the public official/CEO and the nominated person; and
• any proposed changes to this policy.

10. CONSULTATION WITH THE CCC

The Registrar will consult with the CCC when preparing any policy about how the Board will deal with a complaint that involves or may involve corrupt conduct of the public official.¹⁵

11. STATUTORY REFERENCES

Unless otherwise stated, all statutory references are to the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

12. APPROVAL

This policy is approved by:

Timea Steptoe
Registrar
Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland
Date 26 July 2023

Andrew Seccombe
Chairperson
Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland
Date 26 July 2023
Review date: July 2024

1 See s 48A of the CC Act and the definitions below.
2 The CCC’s corruption function encompasses both “corrupt conduct” and “police
misconduct”. For the purposes of the Queensland Police Service, wherever the term “corrupt conduct” is used in the policy, they would also have to consider police misconduct, as per s 37 of the CC Act.
3 See s 48A(4) of the CC Act.
4 Under ss. 37 or 38 of the CC Act.
5 Under Chapter 2, Part 3, Division 4, Subdivisions 1 & 2 of the CC Act.
6 See s 48A(3) of the CC Act.
7 See s 39(2) of the CC Act.
8 Under ss 37 or 38, subject to s 40 of the CC Act.
9 Under ss 41 and 42 and/or ss 43 and 44 of the CC Act.

11 Under ss 41 and 42 and/or ss 43 and 44 of the CC Act.
12 See the CCC’s corruption purposes and function set out in ss 4(1)(b), 33, 34, 35 of the CC
Act and the Board’s relevant statutory, policy and procedural framework which help inform decision making about the appropriate way to deal with the complaint.
13 See s 57 of the CC Act and the CCC’s corruption purposes and function set out in ss 4(1)(b), 33, 34, 35 of the CC Act.
14 See s 34(c) of the CC Act.
15 Section 48A of the CC Act.