Welcome to the second edition of IBAC Insights for 2020. When we published the March edition, we could not foresee that the state of emergency, along with all the challenges this situation presents, would continue as it has for Victoria. At IBAC, while our physical offices are closed, we continue to expose and prevent public sector corruption and police misconduct within the parameters of remote working environments, and in compliance with the directives of the Chief Health Officer.

Despite the added complexities and constraints on conducting some activities, it remains a busy time for IBAC with several investigations closing, others starting and several prosecutions reaching their conclusion.

Within two months of starting as IBAC's CEO, Marlo Baragwanath found herself managing the agency through an extraordinary emergency period. Six months into her new role, Ms Baragwanath takes a look at the challenges of being a CEO under COVID-19, her impressions of IBAC's work and people and outlines her vision for IBAC's future direction.

COVID-19 public health directions have given Victoria Police increased responsibilities. How has this affected IBAC's police oversight role? IBAC Deputy Commissioner Katie Miller looks at IBAC's ongoing work to prevent police misconduct and potential for abuse of power during this time. Ms Miller's article reinforces the importance of addressing systematic and organisational vulnerabilities to prevent corruption and police misconduct.

Undeclared and mismanaged conflicts of interest can lead to serious corruption, as shown by IBAC's Operation Betka, an investigation into allegations a contracted senior project manager in the Department of Education and Training was involved in corrupt conduct.

Operation Betka found the manager misused his position when he sourced IT contractors from his own company to provide $14 million dollars' worth of contracted staffing resources to the Department. The investigation found that while the manager's supervisors were aware of the conflict, their failure to manage the conflict enabled the corrupt conduct. Read more in the Operation Betka special report.

Who are the people who work for IBAC, and what drives them to affect change? For Philip Hill and Rebecca Burdon, a history of working with vulnerable communities in the legal sector led them to IBAC.

'The breadth of our work gives us the scope and potential to simulate change across government that is comprehensive and meaningful.' - Philip Hill

'I had not seen police brutality dealt with in any meaningful way, and was therefore interested in the work IBAC was doing to independently oversee police misconduct.' - Rebecca Burdon

IBAC has recently updated its Managing Public Interest Disclosures in Victoria e-learning module for Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Coordinators. The module is designed to help learners with different levels of experience understand the purpose of the PID scheme and gain practical knowledge of the responsibilities of a PID Coordinator. Find out more, including on how to sign up for the module.

How has COVID-19 impacted on IBAC's work to expose and prevent corruption? What should the community expect from police during the pandemic? How is the integrity sector working to ensure human rights are respected? These and other questions were explored by IBAC during Law Week 2020, with recordings now available online.

IBAC investigations are an important mechanism for exposing public sector corruption and police misconduct. This is a summary of IBAC announcements from March to June 2020 regarding some of our operations.

IBAC staff continue to work remotely due to COVID-19. During this time we are still taking complaints and reports as we continue our work to prevent and expose public sector corruption and police misconduct. Upcoming webinars will be listed on our website.