This is the third and final post in our three-part blog series exploring key takeaways from guidance materials released by IBAC in March this year. This post focuses on the integrity risks and opportunities associated with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As technology rapidly changes how organisations operate, IBAC’s latest integrity scenarios demonstrate that integrity risks are evolving just as quickly.

IBAC highlights an important message for the Victorian public sector: governance frameworks must adapt to new technologies, new ways of working and increasingly complex information environments. Importantly, many of these risks do not arise from malicious intent alone. They often emerge where organisations adopt new tools faster than they develop governance controls.

• IBAC’s guidance about the misuse of artificial intelligence in research highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be misused to misrepresent research.
• IBAC’s podcast, Artificial intelligence in the public sector, features Dr Bronson Harry, a Senior Data and Strategic Intelligence Analyst, and Meg Gillespie from Communications. It highlights how, with good governance and guidelines, artificial intelligence can support and enhance integrity in government organisations.

Artificial intelligence and integrity risks

IBAC’s scenario on the misuse of artificial intelligence in research highlights the growing intersection between technology, ethics, and governance. Artificial intelligence tools can create significant opportunities for efficiency, analysis, and decision-making support. However, they also introduce new integrity challenges and the potential for shortcuts that compromise standards.

Lessons learned

The guidance reinforces several important principles:

• Develop and enforce a clear AI ethics training program for all staff to ensure they use AI tools correctly.
• Introduce mandatory checks before submitting research papers or other documents that use AI to confirm the originality and integrity of the work.
• Ensure oversight of AI use and investigate any suspected misuse.
• Create a formal process for staff to report how they use AI tools, and the role AI played in their work.
• Implement a whistleblower policy to protect those who report unethical AI use or other misconduct.
• Review promotion criteria periodically to ensure they align with ethical standards and do not encourage dishonesty.
• Provide clear guidelines on how to credit AI contributions in research papers to ensure transparency and integrity.
• Establish a process for handling the misuse of AI in research and writing, including retraction procedures, disciplinary actions, and strategies to restore trust.

Artificial intelligence in the public sector

The podcast acknowledges that AI has the potential to improve public sector work in several ways:

• It can make routine tasks easier and faster.
• It can increase the capacity of the public sector to deliver its work.
• It can improve how the public sector communicates its work to the public.
• It can analyse large, complex data sets that may otherwise go unexamined.

The podcast also acknowledges that risks come in three broad categories:

1. Maladministration: This is the largest area of risk. It includes algorithmic bias in decision-making that lacks transparency, and organisational risks arising from excessive deference toward AI systems and decision-making.
2. Cybercrime and fraud: These risks can be exacerbated by realistic phishing and fraud content as produced by generative AI systems.
3. Information management concerns: These include the unsanctioned use of AI and the leaking of potentially confidential or sensitive government information, with the additional risk of AI-hallucinated information as generated by AI.

IBAC recommends that organisations familiarise themselves with, and consider:

• Victoria’s Administrative Guideline for the safe and responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Victorian Public Sector
• National framework for the assurance of artificial intelligence in government.

Conclusion

Modern integrity challenges increasingly involve technology, information management, digital decision-making, and evolving workplace practices. As organisations continue to innovate and adopt new tools, governance approaches must evolve accordingly. The strongest safeguard remains a well-informed workforce operating within clear, adaptive frameworks that are regularly reviewed and updated.

Resources

• Administrative Guideline for the safe and responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Victorian Public Sector(vic.gov.au)
• Artificial intelligence in the public sector podcast (IBAC)
• Integrity scenario: misuse of artificial intelligence in research (IBAC)
• National framework for the assurance of artificial intelligence in government (Australian Government Department of Finance)

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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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