Complaints a member of the Legislative Assembly had acted inappropriately overseas and that another member had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a younger person were both dismissed in the last year for lack of evidence and because investigations do not examine "private lives".
Ken Crispin KC, the Legislative Assembly's commissioner for standards, considered 14 complaints in the 2023-24 financial year, with one finding made against a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Dr Crispin's annual report revealed he received a complaint on November 28, 2023 alleging a member of the Assembly had acted inappropriately while overseas.
"The complaint was made anonymously and the allegations were not accompanied by references to any supporting evidence. ... The member was duly advised that a complaint had been made against him but that it would not be further investigated," Dr Crispin wrote.
The commissioner is only authorised to conduct an investigation if they believe on reasonable grounds there is sufficient evidence to justify the inquiry.
Dr Crispin received a further complaint alleging a member had acted inappropriately overseas. "The complaint remained unresolved as at 30 June 2024 (though it was dealt with on 2 July)," the commissioner's report said.
A complaint was made in February that a member of the Assembly had had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a younger person.
"The complaint was made anonymously from an email address that did not reveal the name of the sender. I ascertained that a copy of the letter referred to me recently had also been provided to the Australian Federal Police," Dr Crispin's report said.
"I then responded to the email, declining to investigate the allegation and explaining that my role does not extend to investigating allegations concerning the private lives of people elected to the Assembly, only to allegations concerning conduct undertaken as members of the Assembly.
"I also mentioned the need for some evidence warranting such an investigation and explained that an anonymous complaint based upon statements attributed to unidentified people would not constitute adequate evidence for the purpose of this requirement."
Dr Crispin had dealt with an earlier complaint about allegations levelled at the Greens' Johnathan Davis, who resigned from the Assembly and his party last year. Mr Davis had, through a lawyer, consistently declined to comment on allegations.
A complaint was made on November 10, 2023 alleging Mr Davis had engaged in sexual contact with younger people; the complaint was received the same day The Canberra Times reported the Greens had referred allegations to police.
Dr Crispin said he responded later that day to decline to investigate the allegations on the basis his role was not to consider matters in a member's private life and the issue had already been referred to police.
"It had not been suggested that there had been any connection between the suggested misconduct and Mr Davis' position as a member," Dr Crispin's annual report said.
"I noted that neither the young person nor any other alleged victim had sought to have a complaint referred to me and I was concerned that any approach I might have made to them might have caused them unnecessary distress and perhaps raised questions about whether evidence subsequently obtained from them by investigating police officers might have been subtly influenced by my investigation."
Dr Crispin dismissed a complaint against the Liberals' Ed Cocks which had alleged a staff member's contract may have been intended to improperly use public money for political campaigning.
"After due investigation, I concluded that the work undertaken on Mr Cock's behalf was not overtly political in nature and seemed to reflect genuine attempt to ascertain the view of his constituents on a variety of issues. In my view, this fell within the legitimate scope of his role as a member," the annual report said.
A September 2023 complaint against Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith and Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson over the handling of drug decriminalisation laws was also dismissed.
"It was alleged that Ms Stephen-Smith had worked through a committee process and then by a private member's bill to avoid the normal substantive legislative processes, including the scrutiny that would normally have been given to a government bill," the annual report said.
"It was also alleged that she had colluded with Mr Michael Pettersson MLA, then chair of a relevant Legislative Assembly committee, to that ensure a desired recommendation was included in the final committee report."
Dr Crispin found there had been no breach of the members' code of conduct and his "role did not extend to questioning political strategies or decisions relating to the introduction of bills into the Assembly".
Peter Cain, the Liberal member for Ginninderra, had a finding made against him by arranging an internship for his son-in-law.
"I found no evidence that any other applicant been excluded as a consequence and accepted that the inappropriate engagement as an unpaid intern may be seen as a less serious than the inappropriate employment of a staff member paid from public funds," Dr Crispin said.
"However, I concluded Mr Cain had breached paragraph 4 of the Code of Conduct, [which] provides that members may not seek to gain financial 'or other benefit' for themselves, their family or friends."
