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
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
icon
-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Sweeney <[FOI #6573 email]>
Sent: Monday, 3 August 2020 3:38 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Guidelines on the Statutory
Offence of Abuse of Public Office
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
[5]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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[6][FOI #6573 email]
Is [7][APSC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Australian Public Service Commission? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[9]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
4. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/
5. https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publicatio...
6. mailto:[FOI #6573 email]
7. mailto:[APSC request email]
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
9. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
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
[5]three hexagons[6]twitter icon [7]facebook
icon
-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Sweeney <[FOI #6573 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 11 August 2020 4:19 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Guidelines on the Statutory
Offence of Abuse of Public Office [SEC=OFFICIAL]
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
-----Original Message-----
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][8]www.apsc.gov.au
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
icon
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[9][FOI #6573 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[10]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. https://www.apsc.gov.au/handling-miscond...
2. https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-values-and-c...
3. https://www.apsc.gov.au/managing-integri...
4. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
6. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
7. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/
8. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
9. mailto:[FOI #6573 email]
10. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
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
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
icon
-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Sweeney <[FOI #6573 email]>
Sent: Monday, 17 August 2020 3:20 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Guidelines on the Statutory
Offence of Abuse of Public Office [SEC=OFFICIAL]
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
[5]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
-----Original Message-----
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][6]www.apsc.gov.au
[5]three hexagons[6]twitter icon [7]facebook
icon
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[7][FOI #6573 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
4. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/
5. https://www.apsc.gov.au/handling-miscond...
6. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
7. mailto:[FOI #6573 email]
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Dear FOI,
Thank you.
I have all the information I need.
I now withdraw the FOI request.
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney