An error-riddled statutory declaration and phoney credentials helped a senior public servant win jobs in the NT government, the anti-corruption watchdog says.

May 18, 2023

An alleged dodgy document used in a bid to back up phoney credentials helped a public servant win a senior Northern Territory government job, the anti-corruption watchdog has found.

The error-riddled statutory declaration and other forged qualifications allowed the officer to land a role in a public body as a chief financial officer.

The same individual lied about their qualifications to win two other senior government roles.

“A public officer engaged in corrupt conduct on three separate occasions,” the NT’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches said in his investigation findings on Thursday.

The first was in 2013 when the person lied about having a tertiary qualification to win a job as a chief financial officer.

“No checks were conducted to verify whether that qualification was in fact held,” the commissioner said.

“The officer did not hold the qualification and the officer knew that when the application was submitted.”

The situation was repeated in 2017 when the officer applied for a similar role that listed the same qualification and membership to a professional accounting body as a prerequisite.

The commissioner said the person created false documents to prove they held the degree and a Chartered Practising Accountant membership.

“Both assertions were knowingly false,” Mr Riches said.

The officer also provided a statutory declaration with multiple spelling mistakes to verify that a required tertiary qualification was held, along with the membership.

Mr Riches noted the document used a Commonwealth of Australia template instead of an NT government one and referred to a qualification that was different to the one asserted in the officer’s resume.

“I have been unable to determine how the purported statutory declaration came to be created,” he said.

“Nevertheless, the content of the purported statutory declaration ought to have raised suspicion as to its authenticity.”

In 2018, the same officer repeated the lies when applying for a job as a chief operating officer in a public body.

The individual’s application again included the false and misleading information about their qualifications and CPA membership.

“No further checks were conducted to verify those claims (and) the officer was appointed to the position,” Mr Riches said.

The commissioner said it showed why proper checks need to be undertaken to verify the background and qualifications of job applicants during the recruitment process.

“All public officers should take note,” he said.

The commissioner tabled an investigation report with recommendations in the NT parliament last year, saying more would follow.

“Those recommendations are, and will be, directed towards ensuring public bodies have robust processes in place for recruitment,” he said.

“I am confident that this is not an isolated incident.”

The officer resigned in 2020.