The High Court has delivered a partial victory to a senior public officer against the Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). 

The court has ruled that IBAC failed to provide the official, who remains unnamed due to legal constraints, with a fair chance to respond to allegations made in a confidential report concerning the misuse of internal email accounts within a public entity, also not named for legal reasons.

The High Court’s unanimous decision, overturning a prior ruling by Victoria's Court of Appeal, mandates that IBAC must allow individuals the opportunity to adequately address adverse material before including such content in their reports. 

This ruling emerges from an extensive inquiry conducted by IBAC between 2019 and 2021, which led to the disputed findings against the official and the public body involved.

IBAC had provided the official with a redacted version of its draft report, sparking a request for additional documentation to support the adverse findings. 

Although some documents were furnished, IBAC withheld others, including transcripts from witness examinations, supplying only the transcripts related to the official's own interrogation.

Despite the High Court's decision spotlighting procedural fairness, it upheld that IBAC’s decision not to circulate the draft report to parliament adhered to legislative requirements. 

Consequently, the appellants did not receive any relief, though IBAC was ordered to cover the costs of the High Court appeal.