IBAC has released its third series of public sector risk profiles. These profiles outline sector-specific corruption risks, key vulnerabilities and practical prevention strategies to help agencies strengthen integrity.

This blog focuses on the new Government departments profile, which draws on insights from IBAC's investigations and outlines the risks identified and the prevention strategies recommended.

In October 2025, IBAC released five new risk profiles covering Courts; Legal and judiciary; Government departments; Health regulators; and the Commerce and recreation sector. Each profile details the particular mix of corruption and misconduct risks facing that sector.

Government departments

The Government departments profile examines corruption and misconduct risks within central departmental offices. It highlights risks linked to public funds, procurement, grants, asset management and high-value decision-making.

IBAC emphasises that Victorian government departments “manage substantial budgets, public assets, and resources to ensure the effective delivery of services that underpin the wellbeing and prosperity of the state. With such large responsibilities, there exists an equally large risk of corruption and misconduct, particularly in the management of public funds, procurement processes, grant allocation and decision-making regarding public assets. Ensuring transparency, accountability, and integrity in these operations is critical to maintaining public trust.”

Key corruption risks

IBAC identifies the following key corruption risks:

• Inaction: including failure to follow policy or procedure, act professionally, or investigate appropriately and transparently.
• Favouritism and collusion: including accepting gifts, benefits and hospitality, or failing to declare and manage conflicts of interest and real or perceived advantages.
• Breach of professional boundaries: including bullying, harassment or breaches of human rights.
• Misuse of resources: including restricting information, providing false or misleading information, or exposing confidential information.
• Fraud: including altering facts, falsifying records, and supplying or receiving false invoices.

Drivers of corruption risk

IBAC also highlights key drivers that exacerbate corruption risks:

• Organisational leadership and culture that tolerates hostile work environments
• Organisational leadership that downplays integrity crises
• Conflicts of interest
• High priority issues such as emergencies
• Certain efficiency measures
• Proximity to politics
• Machinery of government changes.

Understanding this corruption-risk landscape is the first step for any department seeking to build integrity capability. IBAC’s Prevention and Detection Strategies report draws on recommendations made to departments and agencies following investigations, as well as best-practice examples observed interstate.

Prevention strategies recommended by IBAC

Leadership and culture: Departmental leaders must actively model integrity, set clear expectations around ethics, and foster a culture where all staff feel responsible for ethical behaviour. IBAC notes that “Leadership [should] promote and actively model an integrity culture” and that departments should establish policies, resources and training to inform employees of ethical governance and behaviour standards.

Policies and Procedures: Departments should assess their own policies and commit to regular engagement and education efforts. Policies for declaring and managing conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality, recruitment/separation, performance management, and complaint handling must be in place and regularly reviewed. These policies should be embedded into routine documentation and work systems.

Training and awareness: Victorian Public Sector employees should receive mandatory training about ethical governance and behaviour standards. IBAC recommends specialised training “for employees in areas of higher fraud and corruption risk, such as procurement, which includes discussion of conflict of interest, accountability, and probity risk and controls.”

Communication and Reporting Channels: Departments should maintain clear, accessible and preferably independent (or external) channels for reporting misconduct or corruption. Staff should be regularly reminded of these mechanisms, including anonymous reporting options, to encourage a culture of integrity and accountability.

Conflicts of interest: Departments must maintain clear and well-understood conflict of interest policies, procedures and obligations, particularly for high-risk activities such as procurement and recruitment. Leaders should ensure staff can identify and manage actual, potential or perceived conflicts, and feel confident in the organisation’s commitment to managing these risks. Conflict of interest declarations should be reviewed regularly as part of business as usual discussions, such as performance reviews or project checkpoints. Additional reviews should occur at key risk points, including the start of a procurement or recruitment process, and at intervals as contracts progress. Departments should “ensure that staff understand and have confidence in organisational adherence to conflict of interest measures.”

What this means for departments

For government departments and public sector organisations, the message is clear: integrity must be embedded into business-as-usual operations. Corruption and misconduct have far-reaching impacts, and prevention strategies must be diverse and embedded. By adopting IBAC’s risk-based approach and combining prevention with detection, departments will be better placed to reduce the risk of misconduct, maintain public trust and deliver services with integrity.

Resources (IBAC)

• Corruption and misconduct risks for government departments
• Government prevention and detection strategies for government departments
• Resource centre: Sector risk profiles
• Sector risk profile: Government departments

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CourtHeath acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pays respect to Elders past and  present, and to the ongoing living culture of Aboriginal people.

A participant in the UN Global Compact, CourtHeath seeks to raise awareness about the sustainable development goals and the principles of the Global Compact with business and government organisations in Victoria.

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