Complaints about the public official policy

BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS OF QUEENSLAND

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 conduct[2] of its public official as defined in the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 (the “CC Act”).

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.

DEFINITIONS

POLICY APPLICATION

This policy applies:

• if there are grounds to suspect that a complaint may involve corrupt conduct of the public official 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]

NOMINATED PERSON

Having regard to s 48A(2) and (3) of the CC Act, this policy nominates Mr Carl Settgast as the nominated person to notify[4] 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 is a reference to the nominated person.[6]

COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL

If a complaint may involve an allegation of corrupt conduct of the public official 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 Act[7] (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 public official, they are to:

• notify the CCC of the complaint[8], and
• deal with the complaint, subject to the CCC’s monitoring role, when pursuant to s 46 of the CC Act, the CCC refers the complaint to the nominated person to deal with.[9]

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

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

RECORDING REQUIREMENTS

Should the nominated person decide that a complaint, or information or matter, about alleged corrupt conduct of the public official 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.

RESOURCING THE NOMINATED PERSON

If pursuant to ss 40 or 46 of the CC Act, the nominated person has responsibility to deal with the complaint[10]:

• the Board will ensure that sufficient resources are available to the nominated person to enable them to deal with the complaint appropriately[11], and
• 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
• 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 Act[12]
• the importance of promoting public confidence in the way suspected corrupt conduct in the Board is dealt with[13], 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 public official 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 public official 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 public official, to the nominated person.

LIASING WITH THE CCC

The public official 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.

CONSULTATION WITH THE CCC

The public official 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.[14]

STATUTORY REFERENCES

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

[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.

[10]           Under ss 41 and 42 and/or ss 43 and 44 of the CC Act.

[11]           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.

[12]           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.

[13]           See s 34(c) of the CC Act.

[14]           Section 48A of the CC Act.