Corruption perceptions 2024: General comparisons

Summary of key comments

Theme	Key findings
Perception of corruption as a problem	There is broad agreement among audience groups that corruption exists in Victoria, but there are differing views on the extent to which it is a problem. There is an average difference of 19 percentage points between those who agree that corruption occurs and those who think corruption is a problem; This suggests that there is widespread tolerance for certain types of corrupt behavior. Across groups, there has been an upward trend since 2022 in the proportion who think corruption is a problem in Victoria.
Behaviors likely to be ‘high risk’	There are differing views on what constitutes corruption and malfeasance, highlighting a potential opportunity for further education. Commonly identified ‘high risk’ behaviors across groups include nepotism/nepotism, breach of professional boundaries (e.g. bullying and harassment) and inaction. Local government employees are less likely to be perceived as a ‘high’ or ‘medium’ risk of corrupt and abusive behavior there than in the community and Victoria Police.
Organizational ethical culture	Victorian government employees, local government employees and Victoria Police consider their organizations to be vulnerable to corruption and abuse; Victoria Police employees describe their organization as the most vulnerable and with the weakest ethical culture.
Reporting corruption and abuse of power	All audience groups show a strong intention to report corruption and abuse. Information on how to report corruption or misconduct is mixed; government and Victoria Police employees are far more likely than community members to know how to report corruption There are differences in where audience groups report corruption. The public and Victoria Police are more likely than others to use IBAC, while government employees, particularly local government, are more likely to look within their own department/agency or report to a manager.
Awareness and understanding of IBAC	Awareness and understanding of IBAC is significantly higher among government, Victoria Police and business groups compared to community members. Among those who have heard of IBAC, the media is the most likely route through which all groups have been exposed to IBAC in the past 12 months. Confidence in IBAC’s ability to achieve its purpose is higher in the Victorian community and lower in other groups.

Prevalence of corruption and abuse of power

There is broad agreement among groups that corruption exists in Victoria, but there are differences in perception that it is a problem.

There is broad acceptance that corruption occurs across all groups in Victoria, with nine in 10 respondents agreeing. A significantly greater proportion of the wider community (72 per cent) and business providers (77 per cent) say this compared to local government (67 per cent) or the Victorian government (69 per cent). ) employees. Across groups, there is a trend towards an increase in the proportion of people who think corruption is a problem in Victoria since 2022.

In the workplace, those working for the Victorian government are more likely to see corruption as a problem (30 per cent) than those working for business suppliers (15 per cent) or local authorities (22 per cent).

Although not significant, there are also differences in knowledge of what corruption is; The public has much less knowledge (75 per cent) of Victoria Police employees (96 per cent) compared to business suppliers (94 per cent). local government employees (91 per cent) and Victorian government employees (90 per cent).