Secret texts in $100k nepo job scandal
The investigation report, which was released by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Monday, revealed a tranche of WhatsApp messages and texts shared by the high-level beurocrat, who was given the pseudonym Joanne Simeson, and her sister, Melissa.
The events, which occurred from 2022 to 2024, were in relation to an international engagement officer position, which Melissa's fiance Mark Elbert was hired with a salary of $101,264.
In one message dating back to December 2022, after Mr Elbert secured an interview, Joanne said she would 'talk [Mark] through the lie (that they did not have a close personal relationship),' to which Melissa wrote back: 'he's so bad at lying he's too honest'.
Investigations also revealed Joanne forged a witness signature on an onboarding form, and used her seniority and 'promoted his candidacy and qualities to other staff, created the recruitment requisition, nominated herself as the delegate approver, and took steps to have the onboarding'. Text communications between Joanne and her sister Melissa were revealed in the course of investigations. NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia
While Joanne claimed she initially hid her relationship with Mr Elbert because she 'did not want the relationship to be known at work', the NACC said she purposely 'used her position to procure the transfer of her sister's fiance into the Department for the purpose of benefiting her sister's fiance and her sister, knowing it to be improper'.
In another instance, Joanne also misused official information by providing interview questions to her sister, who was applying for a job at another branch at the Department of Home Affairs.
The NACC found Joanne's actions were an 'abuse of her office as a public official,' while repeatedly lying about her relationship with Mr Elberty and her sister, plus the 'benefit conferred on' Mr Elbert mounted to serious corruption.
While Joanne was stood down during the investigation in February 2024, and resigned from the department in June 2024, the NACC said it would have recommended her employment be terminated if she still worked at the department.
The investigation also prompted the NACC to warn that 'nepotism, cronyism and undeclared conflicts of interest in recruitment and promotion is an area of widespread concern,' stating that it 'undermines the merit selection process and erodes morale'.
It also noted that nepotism and cronyism (giving favouritism to friends and business associates) was 'systemic' and was one of the 'most commonly observed types of corrupt conduct,' according to the NACC's 2024 Commonwealth Integrity Survey.
Concluding the report, the commission made three recommendations to restrict access to interview questions to only those with a 'legitimate need to know,' and to call on people involved in recruitment to declare any relationship or association with an applicant and target training to people in senior leadership roles.
It also made specific recommendations to review and change hiring processes related to the Home Affairs Department, especially in relation to department transfers which a facilitated by the head of an agency.
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