Reporting Misconduct

Under the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003 (CCM Act) the Vice-Chancellor has obligations to both the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) and the Public Sector Commission (PSC) in relation to the reporting of suspected misconduct by staff. The Vice Chancellor also has obligations to the Ombudsman WA under the Reportable Conduct Scheme to notify where there are allegations of or convictions for child abuse by Curtin University employees.

Obligations under the CCM Act

What is misconduct for reporting purposes?

The CCM Act defines two types of misconduct – Serious and Minor:

SERIOUS MISCONDUCT is when a public officer i.e., a staff member:

acts corruptly or corruptly fails to act in the course of their duties; OR
corruptly takes advantage of their position for the benefit or detriment of any person; OR
commits an offence which carries a penalty of two or more years.

Some examples include abuse of public office, blackmail, bribery, deliberately releasing confidential information, extortion, obtaining or offering a secret commission, fraud or stealing, forgery, perverting the course of justice or sexual assault.

For more information on serious misconduct reporting and processes, please refer to this CCC website. The following CCC fact sheets provide detailed information on the above subject matter:

Fact Sheet 1: About the CCC
Fact Sheet 2: Definition of Serious Misconduct
Fact Sheet 3: Reporting Serious Misconduct
Fact Sheet 4: Definition of a Public Officer

MINOR MISCONDUCT is behaviour by a public officer which:

adversely affects the honest or impartial performance of the functions of a public authority or public officer; OR
involves the performance of functions in a manner that is not honest or impartial; OR
involves a breach of the trust placed in the public officer; OR
involves the misuse of information or material that the public officer has acquired in connection with their functions as a public officer, whether the misuse is for the benefit of the public officer or the benefit or detriment of another person.

and is significant enough to give grounds for termination as a public officer under the Public Sector Management Act (whether or not the public officer to whom the allegation relates is a public service officer or is a person whose office or employment could be terminated on the grounds of such conduct).

For more information on minor misconduct reporting and processes, please refer to this PSC website. The following PSC fact sheets provide detailed information on the above subject matter:

Obligations under the Reportable Conduct Scheme

What is reportable conduct under the Scheme?

Originally established in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, reportable conduct covered by the Scheme includes allegations of, or convictions for, child abuse involving:

sexual offences (against, with or in the presence of, a child);
sexual misconduct (against, with or in the presence of, a child); and
physical assault (against, with or in the presence of, a child).

From 1 January 2024, this will also include:

significant neglect of a child; and
any behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child.

A reportable allegation is any information that leads a person to form the belief on reasonable grounds that an employee has engaged in reportable conduct, whether or not the conduct is alleged to have occurred in the course of the employee’s employment. A reportable conviction is a conviction for an offence of a sexual nature committed against, with, or in the presence of a child, or other prescribed offences

For more information on the reportable conduct scheme, please refer to the Ombudsman website. The following Ombudsman information fact sheets provide detailed information on the above subject matter:

Information Sheet 1 – Overview of the Reportable Conduct Scheme
Information Sheet 2 – About the Reportable Conduct Scheme
Information Sheet 3 – Identifying Reportable Conduct

Why the distinction between serious misconduct, minor misconduct and reportable conduct?

If there is reasonable suspicion of misconduct or that which may be misconduct, the Vice-Chancellor is required to report:

reportable conduct to the WA Ombudsman; and
serious misconduct matters to the CCC; or
minor misconduct matters to the PSC.

In all cases however, to be reportable to an agency, there must first be reasonable grounds for making a notification. This will usually require some form of preliminary assessment to be conducted to determine relevant facts and circumstances.

Can anyone report misconduct matters to these agencies?

Any person is able to report misconduct directly to either the CCC, PSC or Ombudsman WA. Contact details are as follows:

If you wish to personally report serious misconduct direct to the CCC, you can do so using their email address info@ccc.wa.gov.au or their online reporting form.
If you wish to personally report minor misconduct direct to the PSC, you can do so using their email address minormisconduct@psc.wa.gov.au or their online reporting form.
If you wish to personally report reportable conduct under the Scheme direct to the WA Ombudsman, you can do so using their email address ReportableConduct@ombudsman.wa.gov.au or their online reporting form.

Curtin University’s preference is that if you suspect that a particular matter is of a sufficiently serious nature that it would warrant reporting to these external agencies, you first contact your line manager or Executive Manager, and notify the ISU (if not already done so) either by calling 1800 907 998, emailing ISU-CaseManagement@curtin.edu.au, or formally lodging your complaint via the ISU Complaints Portal.

Once notified to the ISU, the alleged misconduct will be assessed prior to deciding whether a report should be made to the relevant agency. In addition, no attempt should be made to address these matters locally before contacting the ISU. With criminal and corruption matters in particular, a key consideration is the need to avoid prejudicing the criminal process.