The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is engaging with the state’s councils at the annual Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) conference on the Gold Coast, alongside other government agencies including the Office of the Independent Assessor and Office of the Information Commissioner.
CCC Chairperson, Bruce Barbour said the Commission was committed to supporting Queensland’s 77 councils to detect, prevent and respond to corruption in their agencies.
“Councils deliver a broad range of services and are experiencing increasing demand from population growth and infrastructure development, along with skill shortages and challenges attracting and retaining staff,” said Mr Barbour.
“This can create opportunity for corruption to occur, especially within activities like information management, procurement, payroll, and recruitment, which feature prevalently in corruption complaints made to the CCC over the past 10 years.”
In the 2024–25 financial year, complaints involving local governments increased by 8% when compared to 2023–24 (up from 396 complaints to 428 complaints).
The Commission says there are several factors that are likely driving these trends — including growth in the Queensland population, increasing demand on council services, and increasing interactions between councils and the community.
In a recent CCC survey of 973 council employees, 55% indicated they have either witnessed or think they have witnessed corruption in the past 5 years, and 48% of those did not report it*.
Being present at events like this allows the CCC to engage in person with councillors, chief executives and other senior managers to support awareness raising and education in line with our corruption prevention role, and to collaborate with other government and integrity agencies in our shared efforts in supporting the sector, said Mr Barbour.
“Building awareness about corruption and how to prevent it are key to strengthening councils’ ability to address it,” he said.
