A year after the ICAC investigation at Wollongong Council and the rotten apples are still being found out. This time it is, so Council claims, because of their new anti-corruption processes, reports the Illawarra Mercury. Acting general manager Peter Kofod confirmed that a staff member had been dismissed after an internal complaint and investigation. But he was unable to provide specific details, saying the investigation was ongoing. "What I can say is that this is an example of council's new policies and processes in action," he said. "We have made it very clear that this council will not tolerate any form of corrupt or dishonest behaviour." Administrator Col Gellatly was also unable to provide further details.
Only last month, the council adopted a new fraud and corruption prevention policy which encourages staff to report fraudulent, dishonest or corrupt behaviour so it can be investigated. "Council's professional conduct co-ordinator (ombudsman) has now been in place for more than a year, council has appointed protected disclosure officers and protected disclosure referral officers and introduced a corporate governance committee with external representatives," Mr Kofod said. "It is impossible to create a corruption-proof organisation but through comprehensive new policies, processes and systems, we are showing it is possible to identify and take action against anyone associated with council who chooses to act unethically."
In October last year, ICAC handed down 27 corruption prevention recommendations after Commissioner Jerrold Cripps found an unprecedented level of corruption existed within the council, spanning five tiers of local government. He found that former general manager Rod Oxley had created an environment that bred corruption.
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