Integrity Commission Act 2009 (Tas)

Integrity Commission Act 2009

An Act to establish an Integrity Commission and for related matters and to amend certain Acts [Royal Assent 17 December 2009]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Integrity Commission Act 2009 .

2. Commencement This Act commences on a day or days to be proclaimed.

3. Object and objectives (1) The object of this Act is to promote and enhance standards of ethical conduct by public officers by the establishment of an Integrity Commission. (2) The objectives of the Integrity Commission are to – (a) improve the standard of conduct, propriety and ethics in public authorities in Tasmania; and (b) enhance public confidence that misconduct by public officers will be appropriately investigated and dealt with; and (c) enhance the quality of, and commitment to, ethical conduct by adopting a strong, educative, preventative and advisory role. (3) The Integrity Commission will endeavour to achieve these objectives by – (a) educating public officers and the public about integrity; and (b) assisting public authorities deal with misconduct; and (c) dealing with allegations of serious misconduct or misconduct by designated public officers; and (d) making findings and recommendations in relation to its investigations and inquiries.

4. Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – assessor means a person appointed under section 35(2) ; audit includes to examine, investigate, inspect and review; authorised person means a person authorised under section 21 ; Board means the Board of the Integrity Commission established under section 12 ; Chief Commissioner means the person appointed under section 15 ; chief executive officer means the person appointed under section 17 ; complainant, in relation to a complaint, means the person making the complaint, whether on that person's behalf or on behalf of some other person; complaint means a complaint made under section 33 and includes any associated matters relating to the complaint; council-owned company means a company incorporated under the Corporations Act that is controlled by one or more councils or another company that is so controlled; designated public officer means a public officer specified in section 6 ; DPP means the person appointed as Director of Public Prosecutions under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1973 ; functions includes duties; Government Business Enterprise means a Government Business Enterprise within the meaning of the Government Business Enterprises Act 1995 ; Government department means any department established under the State Service Act 2000 , or constituted by any other enactment as a department within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000 ; Head of Agency has the same meaning as in the State Service Act 2000 ; inquiry officer means a person appointed or required under section 63 to assist an Integrity Tribunal with the conduct of an inquiry; Integrity Commission means the Integrity Commission established under section 7 ; integrity entity means any of the following: (a) the Integrity Commission; (b) the Ombudsman; (c) the Auditor-General; (d) the Custodial Inspector; Integrity Tribunal means an Integrity Tribunal convened under section 60 ; investigator means – (a) a person appointed under section 44 or 45 ; or (b) if the Integrity Commission is conducting an investigation under section 87 , 88 or 89 , a person appointed by the Integrity Commission; Joint Committee means the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity established under section 23 ; local authority includes – (a) a council; and (b) a single authority, controlling authority or joint authority established under Part 3 of the Local Government Act 1993 ; and (c) any other body or authority, constituted or established by or under an Act, having power to levy, or cause to be levied, a rate on any land; member, in relation to a council, means a member of that council elected under the Local Government Act 1993 ; Member of Parliament means a member of the Legislative Council or the House of Assembly; misconduct means – (a) conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, of or by a public officer that is or involves – (i) a breach of a code of conduct applicable to the public officer; or (ii) the performance of the public officer's functions or the exercise of the public officer's powers, in a way that is dishonest or improper; or (iii) a misuse of information or material acquired in or in connection with the performance of the public officer's functions or exercise of the public officer's powers; or (iv) a misuse of public resources in connection with the performance of the public officer's functions or the exercise of the public officer's powers; or (b) conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, of or by any public officer that adversely affects, or could adversely affect, directly or indirectly, the honest and proper performance of functions or exercise of powers of another public officer – but does not include conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, by a public officer in connection with a proceeding in Parliament; Parliamentary integrity entity means any of the following: (a) the President of the Legislative Council; (b) the Speaker of the House of Assembly; Parliamentary Standards Commissioner means the person appointed to the office of Parliamentary Standards Commissioner under section 27 ; police misconduct means misconduct by a police officer; political party means a party registered under the Electoral Act 2004 or under an Act of the Commonwealth or another State or Territory as a political party; premises of a public authority means premises at which the business or operations of the public authority are conducted; principal officer, in relation to a public authority specified in Column 1 of Schedule 1 , means the principal officer specified in Column 2 of the Schedule opposite that public authority; privilege includes any of the following: (a) all the privileges set out in Part 10 of Chapter 3 of the Evidence Act 2001 ; (b) the privileges of spouses and others set out in sections 18 , 19 and 20 of the Evidence Act 2001 ; (c) the privileges of the Parliament; proceeding in Parliament means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for purposes of or incidental to, the transacting of the business of a House of Parliament or of a committee, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes – (a) the giving of evidence before a House or a committee, and evidence so given; and (b) the presentation or submission of a document to a House or a committee; and (c) the preparation of a document for purposes of or incidental to the transacting of any such business; and (d) the formulation, making or publication of a document, including a report, by or pursuant to an order of a House or a committee and the document so formulated, made or published; public authority means a public authority referred to in section 5(1) ; public officer means a person who is a public authority or a person who holds any office, employment or position in a public authority whether the appointment to the office, employment or position is by way of selection or election or by any other manner but does not include a person specified in section 5(2) ; record includes any account, deed, writing or document and any other record of information however compiled, recorded or stored, whether in written or printed form, on film or in electronic form or otherwise; register of complaints means the register referred to in section 34 ; relevant public authority, in relation to a complaint made or an investigation or inquiry conducted under this Act, means the public authority to which a public officer who is the subject of a complaint is appointed or, in the case of a public authority who is a person, the public authority who is the subject of a complaint, investigation or inquiry; responsible Minister, in relation to any public authority or part of a public authority, means the Minister charged with the administration of that public authority or part of that public authority; senior executive office means an office created under section 29(4) of the State Service Act 2000 ; serious misconduct means misconduct by any public officer that could, if proved, be – (a) a crime or an offence of a serious nature; or (b) misconduct providing reasonable grounds for terminating the public officer's appointment; State-owned company means a company incorporated under the Corporations Act that is controlled by – (a) the Crown; or (b) a Government Business Enterprise; or (c) a statutory authority; or (d) another company which is itself controlled by an entity referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) or (c) ; statutory authority means a body or authority, whether incorporated or not, that is established, constituted or continued by or under an Act or under the royal prerogative, being a body or authority which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another statutory authority but does not include a State Service Agency; statutory office means an office the holder of which is appointed by the Governor or a Minister. (2) For the purposes of this Act – (a) a reference to a public authority includes a reference to the principal officer and each of the members, officers and employees of the authority; and (b) a reference to an officer of a public authority includes a reference to a principal officer and an officer appointed by or to the authority under any Act; and (c) a reference to a member of a public authority includes a reference to the holder of an office created by any Act who, by virtue of his or her holding the office, is a member of the authority; and (d) a reference to an employee of a public authority includes a reference to a State Service officer or State Service employee; and (e) a reference to a member of a public authority includes a reference to a person who is elected to that authority. (3) For the purposes of the definition of State-owned company in subsection (1) , the provisions of the Corporations Act relating to control are taken to apply as if the Crown, Government Business Enterprise or statutory authority, as the case may be, were a corporation under that Act.