An investigation into payments made under the Cape Class Patrol Boat contract by the Department of Home Affairs.
The Integrity Commissioner and head of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI), Ms Jaala Hinchcliffe, has today published the investigation report on Operation Tardis.
Operation Tardis was a joint investigation between ACLEI and the Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs). The investigation considered an allegation that a senior ABF staff member engaged in corrupt conduct by authorising two milestone payments during the acquisition phase of the Cape Class Patrol Board project.
The investigation examined the circumstances in which these two payments were authorised by Officer A, to determine whether they had engaged in corrupt conduct in authorising them.
The joint investigation did not identify evidence that Officer A had received or intended to receive a benefit in exchange for authorising the payments, or engaged in other corrupt conduct in authorising the two payments. Accordingly, no corruption findings were made.
However, the investigation established a number of issues with the decision-making process undertaken in authorising the payments. These include that inadequate records had been kept by the ABF staff member to explain their rationale for authorising them, governance structures of the project had fallen away during the process, and legal advice was not followed. These factors created corruption vulnerabilities.
As a result of the investigation, the Integrity Commissioner has made four recommendations to Home Affairs to address the corruption vulnerabilities identified. Home Affairs’ response to those recommendations are set out in the report.
The investigation report for Operation Tardis is available on the ACLEI website.
