Consultants are being paid more than $170,000 to review the fledgling ACT Integrity Commission, including workplace issues faced by the agency.
Almost half the staff left the organisation in the last full financial year and the average staff tenure was barely 18 months, less than some of the commission's high-profile investigations.
In a bid to improve staff satisfaction the commission has also brought in consultants to provide one-on-one coaching to staff and executives and to help enhance culture and employee experience.
The commission has acknowledged there are limited career opportunities to keep staff long term and they struggle to compete with federal agencies for staff.
A commission spokeswoman said it was common to receive a low number of applications for roles.
But the commission has defended the time taken to complete its investigations, saying it is not uncommon for corruption investigations in other states and territories to take several years to complete.
The ACT government has promised changes to make it easier for the commission to employ former territory public servants, which has been identified as a key concern, but it's unclear when the changes will be made.
Staffing issues
There are 28.7 full-time equivalent staff at the commission, including three staff on extended leave. This number does not include the integrity commissioner Michael Adams KC and acting commissioner John McMillan, who is overseeing the investigation into Walter Sofronoff KC.
The commission's annual report for 2022-23 showed a separation rate of 47.3 per cent over the year. The average years of service for the staff at the commission was 1.7 years.
So far in the 2023-24 year, eight staff have left the commission but only three of those were permanent staff.
A spokeswoman from the commission said one staff member was on leave from the commission on a 12-month contract elsewhere and decided to not return.
The other three were in non-ongoing positions and the funding ran out.
Of the 23 staff who were employed at the end of the 2022-23 financial year, 18 were on a permanent contract and five were on a temporary contract.
A consultant has been employed by the commission to review the organisation's culture and employee satisfaction. The contractor, Fyusion, a management advisory practice, is being paid more than $170,000 to conduct the year-long review which is set to finish in July.
The contract requires Fyusion to "undertake a current state review" to identify what is working and what is not and "to identify how best to enhance the Commission's culture and employee satisfaction".
"Including how best to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes via an assessment of any workplace issues, workplace culture, behavioural styles, and current workplace relationships," the contract said.
The contract includes weekly meetings with the commission's chief executive and a staff workshop to present and discuss the findings of the review.
A separate consultant is also providing executive coaching services to the commission.
The $46,000 year-long contract with nXus People includes activities "to enhance both individual and collective leadership capability and workplace culture".
"The program of work requires four elements to be undertaken, including a current state assessment of organisational culture and a report describing that current state, workshops with teams to enhance teamwork and one-on-one coaching of selected executives and staff," the contract said.
The spokeswoman said the commission was requested by the government to develop a workforce plan after seeking additional resources in last year's budget. She said this is what the $170,000 contract was for. The contract also provides human resources advice as the commission does not have in-house services.
"This is the first time since its rapid inception in late 2019 that the commission has commenced a review of its structures and workforce design," she said.
Proposed hiring changes
The ACT Integrity Commission came into force in December 2019. In the four-and-a-half years since it has been in operation, the commission has released five reports.
Legislation to establish the commission passed the Legislative Assembly in 2018 after all three major parties committed to an independent integrity commission in 2016.
The commission has urged the government to drop a five-year exclusion period for former ACT public servants to join. This was backed up by an independent review into the commission.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr told The Canberra Times late last year the government would make changes to shorten the time period. He said he wanted this done before the end of the parliamentary term.
However, when asked whether this would likely occur before then, an ACT government spokeswoman did not directly address this. The spokeswoman said the government was still considering the recommendations from the review of the commission.
"The five-year exclusion was an amendment required by the Canberra Liberals in order to have bipartisan support for the original legislation," the spokeswoman said.
"The commission has consistently raised that in a small jurisdiction such as the ACT, this rule has significantly limited the number of qualified individuals able to apply for commission roles.
"The government is currently consulting with the Integrity Commission and other stakeholders in relation to all of the review recommendations.
"The government will publish a formal response to the review once that is complete."
The commission said this was still an issue, saying the restriction meant "recruitment pools continue to be limited".
Length of investigations
The commission has come under fire for the time taken to complete investigations, including into $8.7 million worth of contracts awarded by the Canberra Institute of Technology and Campbell Primary School expansion procurement
Both matters have been under investigation for about two years.
The first findings from the commission's investigation into the CIT's contracts with "complexity and systems thinker" Patrick Hollingworth is expected to be released before the end of the month.
This is despite the fact the report was distributed to 35 people more than six months ago. Under law, the commission must give affected parties a minimum of six weeks to respond. Parties are able to request an extension and some were granted extra time to respond.
The investigation into the Campbell Primary School construction tender is examining whether officials in the Education Directorate failed to act honestly and/or impartially when making recommendations and decisions around the build.
The investigation's final public hearings have been pushed back several times. During the final stage of hearings lawyers for affected parties will be able to address the commissioner about their respective cases.
This was initially set to take place from March 12 but has been postponed on three occasions. It was pushed back until April 15 and then May 13. It now won't take place until July 8.
The commission's spokeswoman defended the time taken to complete investigations. She suggested the time taken was due to the number of matters under investigation.
She said the commission has about 15 to 20 ongoing matters at any one time. The commission also has a large volume of complaint assessments with about 80 being considered at any one time.
The availability of the commissioner and lawyers also contributed to delays, as well as procedural fairness processes.
"[The commission] re-prioritises its works to the available resources, including the commissioner's workload," the spokeswoman said.
"It is not uncommon for corruption investigations to take a considerable time to conclude. Investigations by other state and territory commissions can frequently take several years to conclude.
"As most witnesses in commission investigations are represented by legal counsel, delays can also occur from the negotiation of availability of legal representatives."
