US Edition‘Talk Him Through the Lie’: Senior Public Servant Promoted Sister’s Fiance, Forged Signature
- The National Anti-Corruption Commission released its first public report on Monday revealing that a senior Home Affairs official, dubbed Joanne, promoted her sister's fiancé for a $101,264 job in 2023 and forged a witness signature to fast-track his onboarding.
- This investigation followed concerns raised in late 2023 and early 2024, including Operation Kingscliff's establishment and a mandatory referral by the department's secretary on January 12, after uncovering undisclosed family ties and nepotistic conduct.
- Joanne concealed the relationship by creating a false narrative that the fiancé was a 'friend of a friend', provided interview questions in advance to her sister Melissa, and repeatedly lied about her connections throughout the recruitment process.
- Commissioner Paul Brereton highlighted that the misconduct involved deceit, misuse of authority, and widespread nepotism, underscoring the importance of implementing robust anti-corruption strategies such as required conflict of interest disclosures throughout recruitment and limiting unauthorized sharing of interview details.
- Joanne resigned in June 2024 before termination, while the fiancé no longer works at Home Affairs, and the commission recommended changes to hiring and transfer processes to mitigate similar risks in the Australian Public Service.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Senior home affairs official abused public office to get her future brother-in-law a job, Nacc finds
A senior home affairs department official has been found to have abused public office and misused internal information to get her future brother-in-law a job, including hiding their relationship and sharing job interview questions with her sister. A damning National Anti-Corruption Commission report released on Monday found the woman, who was given the pseudonym Joanne Simeson, forged a signature and coached her sister on how to hide the family …
Canberra CityNews
PerthNow'Nepotism and cronyism': senior official found corrupt
Nepotism and cronyism are frequent forms of corruption in Australia, the national watchdog says. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) By Kat Wong in Canberra A senior public servant who gave a relative’s career a leg up while hiding their connection has been found to be corrupt by a federal watchdog. Joanne Simeson helped her sister’s fiance Mark Elbert get a job in the Department of Home Affairs by praising him to colleagues, creating a job requisition, ap…
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Talk him through the lie’: Senior public servant promoted sister’s fiance, forged signature
The National Anti-Corruption Commission’s report included details of text messages between the sisters where they laughed about the plan.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources lean Right
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
