We can investigate allegations under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, but we use these powers in limited situations – usually only when the Public Sector Commissioner is the officer’s employer (such as a director general).
Following our assessment, we usually take one of 3 actions:
- Refer your report to an appropriate authority.
- Refer your report to the Corruption and Crime Commission for its assessment.
- Decide no action is required.
See more information about these actions below.
When we assess that minor misconduct has or may have happened (or is about to) we usually refer the allegation to the person’s employer (the employing authority).
As the employer, they can take disciplinary action. We either ask the employer to give us a detailed report outlining the action they have taken or simply let us know the outcome only.
When we assess that serious misconduct may have happened we refer your report to the Corruption and Crime Commission as they are responsible for deciding if serious misconduct has occurred. A referral to the CCC should not be taken as an indication that serious misconduct has occurred, only that it is appropriate for the CCC to consider your report.
If you raise multiple allegations and at least one involves potential serious misconduct, we refer the entire report to the Corruption and Crime Commission.
When we assess your report as NOT meeting the threshold for minor misconduct we either take no action or send it to the employing authority for their information and any action they think is needed.
If we decide to take no action, we do not provide details to explain why but it is generally because:
- the alleged conduct does not reach the minor misconduct threshold to warrant further action by the Commission or another body
- the report might be about service delivery (such as rudeness)
- the Commission is already aware of the issues you’ve raised and has taken steps to address them
- the information you provide is based on rumours or speculation
- the report is about a public officer whom we do not have the authority to deal with.
Even if we decide to take no action, your information helps us to spot patterns and trends. This allows us to alert government sector organisations to areas where minor misconduct might be happening and where they may be at risk.
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