Colin Murphy's report says each of the 10 agencies examined needs to improve its employment practices.
ABC News: Andrew O’Connor
Numerous West Australian public sector agencies are at risk of employing inappropriate or unqualified staff because of issues with verifying the identity and credentials of employees, a report has found.
Ten public sector agencies, including the departments of Racing, Gaming and Liquor, Regional Development and Environment Regulation, were investigated for the report by auditor-general Colin Murphy.
Several of those entities were given "poor" ratings in terms of their policies and procedures, screening of new staff and monitoring of existing employees, while all were found to have room to improve.
Among the problems identified were failures to conduct criminal background checks, confirm the identity of employees or verify staff qualifications.
According to the report, 16 per cent of employees from the 10 agencies examined had not had their identity or right to work verified, and there was inadequate evidence supporting an employee's right to work in Australia in 55 further cases.
"We found many instances where the identity, qualifications, right to work in Australia and criminal backgrounds were not checked with the risk that inappropriate or unqualified staff are employed," the report stated.
"All 10 agencies need to improve their practices in some way, with only one agency rated as good against any of our three lines of inquiry."
The investigation sampled 553 staff across the 10 agencies and found criminal background checks were performed on only 263, although that was not required for all jobs.
Both the Department of Regional Development and WA Tourism Commission were found not to have conducted any criminal background checks on their staff.
www.cmprecruitmentspecialist.com.au the Recruitment Specialist
ABC News: Andrew O’Connor
Numerous West Australian public sector agencies are at risk of employing inappropriate or unqualified staff because of issues with verifying the identity and credentials of employees, a report has found.
Ten public sector agencies, including the departments of Racing, Gaming and Liquor, Regional Development and Environment Regulation, were investigated for the report by auditor-general Colin Murphy.
Several of those entities were given "poor" ratings in terms of their policies and procedures, screening of new staff and monitoring of existing employees, while all were found to have room to improve.
Among the problems identified were failures to conduct criminal background checks, confirm the identity of employees or verify staff qualifications.
According to the report, 16 per cent of employees from the 10 agencies examined had not had their identity or right to work verified, and there was inadequate evidence supporting an employee's right to work in Australia in 55 further cases.
"We found many instances where the identity, qualifications, right to work in Australia and criminal backgrounds were not checked with the risk that inappropriate or unqualified staff are employed," the report stated.
"All 10 agencies need to improve their practices in some way, with only one agency rated as good against any of our three lines of inquiry."
The investigation sampled 553 staff across the 10 agencies and found criminal background checks were performed on only 263, although that was not required for all jobs.
Both the Department of Regional Development and WA Tourism Commission were found not to have conducted any criminal background checks on their staff.
www.cmprecruitmentspecialist.com.au the Recruitment Specialist
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