Weak endeavours: the meekness of Australia’s anti-corruption body

The question being investigated was whether the failure by Brown to disclose the aforementioned events (she thought she had no obligation to do so from April 2018 when she was on long-service leave pending retirement) had affected her suitability to hold a security clearance. These included the evolving nature of her relationship with Delaney and the money and property lavished on them from Thrupp. Even Commissioner Brereton acknowledged that "she should have at least known that at least her relationship with Delaney ought to have been reported" though inexplicably thought the non-disclosure "understandable" and not actuated by intent, dishonesty or corruption.

The investigation had initially begun as a joint investigation by the Australian Commission into Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) and the Department of Home Affairs. It then fell to the NACC from July 1, 2023 to finalise matters. On October 9, the report by Commissioner Brereton was released. The allegation that Brown had abused her office as a Home Affairs employee "to dishonestly obtain a benefit for herself or to assist Paladin to secure the garrison services contract is unsubstantiated." She had not failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest between herself and Thrupp ("a close relative"), and her partner Delaney, in their links to Paladin, "in accordance with Home Affairs procedures".

The report does not find Brown's failure to report the "change of her circumstances to Home Affairs and AGSVA [Australian Government Security Vetting Agency]" remarkable, as it "does not appear to have been intentional". Failure to do so was insufficient to "bring it to the notice of the head of the relevant agency."

For a body that offered so much promise, the NACC has failed to impress. Instead of restoring trust in the public service and politics, the Commission has shown a lack of appetite to pursue its broader remit, preferring a stymying caution. The status quo remains, distinctly, intact.