Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Integrity and Oversight Committee

Performance of the Victorian Integrity Agencies 2020/21: Focus on Witness Welfare

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (10:20): I rise to speak on the report Performance of the Victorian Integrity Agencies 2020/21: Focus on Witness Welfare. I have been up on my feet earlier this year in regard to this report, along with the member for Albert Park. I think the member for Point Cook was also up, and he may be following me today, so I was very interested to read his comments from the previous Hansard. It was very helpful today.

Clearly, the Integrity and Oversight Committee (IOC) are a very important committee. I will say that I did chair the committee for around about 18 months in the 59th Parliament along with the deputy chair, the member for Sandringham. We had a very good committee, a very productive committee and a very cohesive committee, and I applaud all the members that were on that initial committee in the 59th Parliament for their efforts.

I will go to the secretariat also. I know there have been some changes there, but I cannot commend the secretariat enough for the work that they do. They make the committees work well, and they produce fantastic outcomes. I have got to acknowledge Sean Coley as the committee manager for the assistance that he gave me and the deputy chair during our time and obviously subsequent to that as the committee moved on; Dr Stephen James, senior research officer; Tom Hvala, research officer; Holly Brennan, complaints and research assistant; Maria Marasco, committee administrative officer; and Bernadette Pendergast, committee administrative officer. The work that they do is amazing. In my time I just want to thank them for their efforts and assisting me. Some of the functions of the integrity and oversight committee, and I will read from the report itself, are:

to monitor and review the performance of the functions and exercise of the powers of the Information Commissioner; and

to consider and investigate complaints concerning the Information Commissioner and the operation of the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner; and

to report to both Houses of Parliament on any matter requiring the attention of Parliament …

the performance of the functions and the exercise of the powers of the Information Commissioner …

and obviously, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in regard to overseeing those roles, and also the Victorian Ombudsman. But it has many, many functions. There are pages here, several pages – what, three pages – of the functions that this committee has.

Witness welfare is an important issue, and it was raised in my time as the chair of the committee; some concerns were raised around witness welfare. And I know that the Victorian Inspectorate did their own report on witness welfare and expressed some concerns. There have been 16 recommendations made in this report, and they go to all of the agencies that are overseen by the IOC. One of the recommendations in particular for IBAC was:

That the Victorian Government, following consultation with the Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission (IBAC) , the Victorian Inspectorate (VI) and helplines providing telephone and online mental health crisis support services, seek to amend the Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission Act 2011 (Vic) to permit a person who is subject to an IBAC confidentiality notice to disclose a restricted matter to a telephone or online helpline providing mental health crisis support services …

and it goes on. I do not know if anyone has been involved in cases under investigation where there have been witnesses and had to give evidence before a tribunal. It is very distressing and demanding, and it does play on people’s minds in different ways. I have had some involvement with that in my previous role as the secretary of the ambulance union when some of my members were investigated or asked to present to IBAC. I have seen the mental health concerns that that caused, and it is important that we support witnesses when they are providing evidence to these investigatory bodies of the state.

This is a good report. As I say, during my time I had nothing but cohesion amongst the committee that we had. I commend the committee that has been subsequent to my finishing up at the IOC. But it is a very good report and I –

Cindy McLeish: It went downhill after you, mate.

Steve McGHIE: Oh, it might have. It might have gone downhill after me. But anyway, it continues and it will continue. I know they have got a new chair now in the member for Brunswick. I commend the report.