Guidelines on the Statutory Offence of Abuse of Public Office
Phillip Sweeney made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Public Service Commission
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Public Service Commission,
The Commissioner may conduct investigations pursuant to Sections 41A and 41B of the Public Service Act 1999 {Cth) into alleged contraventions of the APS Code of Conduct - Section 13 of the Act.
It is only the most serious contraventions of the APS Code of Conduct that would enliven the statutory offence of 'Abuse of Public Office' - Section 142.2 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
The common law equivalent offence is Misconduct in Public Office.
Guidelines for this offence in New South Wales is provided at:
[20-190] Common law offence of misconduct in public office
https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publicatio...
Included in these guidelines is this statement.
"In the case of misconduct on the part of a politician, the damage caused by the offence is not measured by any material loss to the State or gain to the offender; the real harm is the damage caused to the institutions of government and public confidence in them".
The document or documents I seek is a copy of similar guidelines in the possession of the Commission or Commissioner that would assist in assessing where one or more contraventions of the APS Code of Conduct by an Agency Head or APS employee would reach a threshold of "causing damage to the institutions of government and public confidence in them"{or similar harm that may not be of a financial nature} that would enliven Section 142.2 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) or the common law equivalent of Misconduct in Public Office where the Officer holder is an Australian Public Servant subject to the APS Code of Conduct.
Yours faithfully,
Phillip Sweeney
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Sweeney,
I am writing to you to update you on your request. We are currently
conducting some preliminary searches and will update you further as things
progress.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me on 02 6202 3500.
Regards,
FOI Officer
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3500 w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply.
I will agree to a time extension should you require additional time to complete this FOI request
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Sweeney,
I am responding to your recent FOI request.
We have sought reasonable searches from the relevant area of the
Commission and have not identified material that specifically falls within
the scope of your request.
We have however identified a number of publicly available documents that
may provide some broader information on the interaction between the APS
Code of Conduct and criminal law, including:
· [1]Handling misconduct: a human resource manager’s guide. The
following sections may be of particular interest:
o Section 3.7: Suspected misconduct that may also be a criminal act
o Section 6.3: Investigations of suspected fraud or other criminal
behaviour
o Appendix 5: Elements of the APS Code of Conduct; in particular,
guidance on subsection 13(4) of the Public Service Act 1999
· [2]APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice
· [3]Managing integrity risks in the workplace
As the specific information you requested has not been identified after
reasonable searches, we are now giving you the option to withdraw your FOI
request.
Unless you otherwise advise us by close of business 20 August 2020, we
will treat your request as withdrawn.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me on 02 6202 3500.
Regards,
FOI Officer
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3500 w: [4]www.apsc.gov.au
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Dear FOI,
Can you confirm that this is the document that you referred to as
[1]Handling misconduct: a human resource manager’s guide
is to be found at https://www.apsc.gov.au/handling-miscond...
If you can confirm that this is the document then I shall withdraw my request.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Sweeney,
Yes I can confirm this is correct.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me on 02 6202 3500.
Regards,
FOI Officer
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3500 w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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Dear FOI,
Thank you.
I have all the information I need.
I now withdraw the FOI request.
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney