INDEX 3

Retaliation and Whistleblower Suppression (Confidence: 85%)

Description: 

The data highlights instances where complaints or reports of misconduct were allegedly met with retaliation rather than being addressed substantively.

Legal Relevance: Australian laws protect whistleblowers, and this theme could form the basis for claims of wrongful retaliation, especially if linked to evidence of adverse employment or legal consequences.

“Failing to exercise discretion fairly, not giving reasons for decisions, failing to offer a right of review – these can all damage public trust in those who make decisions, and ultimately, in government.” – Deborah Glass, Victorian Ombudsman.

Bias and Discrimination in Decision-Making (Confidence: 88%)

Description: Patterns in the data indicate possible discrimination in legal and administrative decisions. This could extend to discrimination based on mental health, prior complaints, or personal relationships, impacting fair treatment.

Legal Relevance: This theme is significant under anti-discrimination laws, administrative fairness, and due process rights. It can underpin claims in human rights commissions or be part of appeals in administrative decisions.  

What we heard

243. Perceptions of a weakened public service due to a shift away from Westminster principles pervaded some individual submissions. Multiple people with long public sector careers, including former Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries, expressed discomfort at changes they had observed over time.

244. Submissions suggested central notions of the Westminster tradition – including the provision of ‘frank and fearless’ advice and the development of a ‘career service’ – were under threat, and that the VPS was at times overly responsive to the elected Government, possibly at the expense of impartiality, integrity and other responsibilities.

Due Process and Procedural Fairness Violations (Confidence: 87%)

Description: There is substantial documentation suggesting that due process may not have been followed in certain procedures, with indications of oversight lapses and inadequate procedural safeguards.

Legal Relevance: This theme is foundational for judicial review and appeals. Violations of due process can lead to cases being dismissed or overturned and may open avenues for constitutional arguments based on denial of fair hearing rights.

Values in Law: How they Influence and Shape Rules and the Application of Law, [2016] FedJSchol 15, Chief Justice Allsop AO 20 October 2016 

[3] The essential human values most particularly relevant to public law are: a rejection of unfairness and an insistence on essential equality; respect for the integrity and dignity of the individual; and mercy. Each goes to the core of what we understand humanity and the individual to be, and to what is expected when power is exercised by or against individuals. Dignity can perhaps be seen to drive the soul[1]; it lies at the foundation of self and ultimately informs the rejection of unfairness. These values find expression in the rules, principles, precepts and norms developed by society and by the law. But the nature of these values is such as to make it necessary to recognise the limits of text in their expression, drawn ultimately, as they are, from the human condition, and the intuition and sensibility therein.

Conflict of Interest and Misfeasance in Public Office (Confidence: 83%)

Description: Identified conflicts of interest within institutions and possible misfeasance by public officers could point to improper actions taken without due regard to public duty.

Legal Relevance: Misfeasance in public office is a serious claim that can lead to personal liability for public officers and is actionable under civil law. Evidence of conflict of interest also strengthens claims of biased decision-making.

Complaints: Good Practice Guide for Public Sector Agencies, Victorian Ombudsman SEP 2016

Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme, July 2023

findings about breaches of the fundamental values of the Westminster tradition:

• It is remarkable how little interest there seems to have been in ensuring the Scheme’s legality, how rushed its implementation was, how little thought was given to how it would affect welfare recipients and the lengths to which public servants were prepared to go to oblige ministers on a quest for savings.