Conduct

Section 4 of the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003 ("the CCM Act") defines misconduct as: Misconduct generally occurs when a public officer abuses authority for personal gain, causes detriment to another person or acts contrary to the public interest.

City of Mandurah Employees are Public Officers

Misconduct is characterised in the CCM Act as "serious misconduct" and "minor misconduct"

Serious misconduct

Serious misconduct is conduct by a public officer who:

• acts corruptly or corruptly fails to act in the course of their duties; or
• corruptly takes advantage of their office or employment to obtain a benefit or to cause a detriment to any person; or
• acting in the course of their duties or while deliberately creating the appearance of acting in the course of their duties, commits an offence punishable by two or more years imprisonment.

Examples include:

• abuse of public office
• blackmail
• bribery, including bribery in relation to an election
• deliberately releasing confidential information
• extortion
• obtaining or offering a secret commission
• fraud or stealing
• forgery
• perverting the course of justice
• an offence relating to an electoral donation
• loss of revenue of the state by tax evasion
• falsification of records.

Read more information on serious misconduct reporting and processes:

• About the CCC
• What is serious misconduct?
• CCC – Reporting Corruption

Minor misconduct

Minor misconduct occurs if a public officer engages in conduct that:

• adversely affects the honest or impartial performance of the functions of a public authority or public officer, whether or not the public officer was acting in their public officer capacity at the time of engaging in the conduct; or
• constitutes or involves the performance of functions in a manner that is not honest or impartial
• constitutes or involves a breach of the trust placed in the public officer by reason of their office or employment as a 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 constitutes, or could constitute:

• a disciplinary offence providing reasonable grounds for the termination of a person’s office or employment as a public service officer under the Public Sector Management Act 1994 (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).

Read more information on minor misconduct reporting and processes:

• About the PSC
• What is minor misconduct?
• I think its misconduct, what should I do?

If there is reasonable suspicion of misconduct

If there is reasonable suspicion of misconduct, the Chief Executive Officer is obligated to report:

• serious misconduct matters to the CCC
• minor misconduct matters to the PSC.

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

How to report misconduct

In the first instance, it is preferable for reports of misconduct to be sent to Manager How to report misconduct

In the first instance, it is preferable for reports of misconduct to be sent to Chief Executive Officer CEO@mandurah.wa.gov.au

Alternatively, you may wish to report directly to the CCC or PSC:  

• serious misconduct direct to the CCC – email info@ccc.wa.gov.au or use the online reporting form
• minor misconduct direct to the PSC – email minormisconduct@psc.wa.gov.au  or complete the reporting form

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (the Act) enables people, employees and members of the public, to make disclosures about wrongdoing within the State public sector, Local Government and public universities without fear of reprisal. The Act aims to ensure openness and accountability in government by encouraging people to make disclosures, and protecting them when they do.

The Act allows you to disclose public interest information and provides you with protection for doing so. Making a public interest disclosure (a disclosure) enables public authorities to investigate and deal straight away with matters that may otherwise have gone unnoticed or unreported.

Making a disclosure or 'whistleblowing' is a serious matter and in many cases it will take courage and trust for people holding information to come forward.

For more information about Public Interest Disclosure visit the Public Sector Commission, contact the PID Advice and Referral Line on 1800 355 835 or view the City of Mandurah Public Interest Disclosure Internal Procedure Guide.