Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has apologised to public servants who felt they were not listened to in the past when raising concerns about integrity processes within the Queensland government.
It comes as a mounting number of former and outgoing public servants have detailed integrity concerns within the Queensland government, including cultural issues, political inference and the altering of annual reports.
On Monday, Ms Palaszczuk conceded "some things could have been done better" and acknowledged there could be improvements so bureaucrats felt their concerns were acted on.
She also ordered her director-general Rachel Hunter, who oversees the state's public service, to send a letter to all public servants reiterating the Premier's expectations and highlighting the reporting mechanisms in place if they wanted to raise issues.
Speaking in Bundaberg today, Ms Palaszczuk apologised to those who felt they had not been listened to saying she wanted public servants to be aware of the different reporting avenues available to them.
"There were some people who said that they felt they weren't listened to and I apologise if they feel that way," she said.
"But we absolutely need to make sure that we have absolute confidence and Queenslanders should have confidence in the robust checks and balances that we have.
"Where we can actually do more, we will."
While Ms Palaszczuk pointed to her government's track record on introducing stronger integrity processes, including the lowering of political donations and the implementation of real-time disclosures, she also admitted there was room for improvement.
"I acknowledge that we need to do more."
Palaszczuk welcomes integrity commission recommendations
She confirmed a state archivist's report into Mark Bailey's private emails sent to the Director-General would be released to the public as soon as her office was given clearance to do so.
Ms Palaszczuk said she agreed with recommendations to separate the integrity commission from the public service commission.
"We look forward to what the committee has to say about that," she said.
"I don't have any problems with Kevin Yearbury's recommendations in relation to the office of the integrity commission."
The Premier comments come after Queensland's embattled anti-corruption watchdog backed calls from the state's Integrity Commissioner for increased independence and mechanisms to stop government interference.
The comments from the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) are contained in a submission to a Queensland parliamentary committee that reviews the recommendations of a mandatory five-yearly review of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner (OIC) made by former bureaucrat Kevin Yearbury.
The CCC's acting chair, Bruce Barbour, said the watchdog supported the recommendation to make the Integrity Commissioner a unit of public administration to ensure the office had obligations to report suspected corrupt conduct to the watchdog.
"The CCC … enthusiastically agrees with the proposition that integrity in government and public administration involves, amongst other things, actively developing systems and a culture which encourages ethical behaviours, deters misconduct and makes it difficult for corruption to take root," Mr Barbour said.
"The Integrity Commissioner [Dr Nikola Stepanov] and her legislative functions are an important aspect of this."
The CCC submission said the amendments would mean the OIC would fall under its jurisdiction.
Lack of resourcing, outdated software
Mr Barbour also said the CCC welcomed recommendations to enhance the transparency of lobbying activity at all levels of government, with Mr Yearbury's report finding "some lack of detail" in ministerial diaries relating to the purpose of meetings.
The outgoing Integrity Commissioner, Dr Stepanov, also made a scathing submission to the parliamentary committee detailing a lack of resources and outdated software.
It remains unclear who will replace Dr Stepanov as the state's integrity commissioner after she announced her resignation last month. She will remain in the role until July.
She said urgent funding was needed to replace the outdated software that maintains the lobbyist register, which Dr Stepanov described as "no longer viable".
She said the register's data needed to be immediately transferred to a new platform.
"The register software was purpose-built more than 14 years ago and has been maintained on a break/fix basis since 2015," she wrote in her submission.
Amount of advice given outstripping predecessors
Dr Stepanov said due to a growing demand on her office and a lack of resources, she had been forced to "triage requests" and was unable to maintain an independent and confidential service.
She said the amount of advice she had provided in the past four and a half years had outstripped her four predecessors in the previous 17 years.
She said during her term she had advised on ethics, integrity and interest matters on 954 occasions (written and oral) and further advised on lobbying matters 92 times.
"By comparison, over the course of 17 years from the establishment of the role of Integrity Commissioner, the four preceding Integrity Commissioners provided advice on ethics, integrity, and interest matters on a total of 573 occasions'' Dr Stepanov said.
She said the review's findings regarding her office's lack of independence and other governance issues needed to be urgently addressed and the matters were of "particular significance''.
Demand for services has reached 'unprecedented highs'
Dr Stepanov urged that legislative changes be "expeditiously" implemented, giving her office more powers and standing equal to that of a chief executive officer, who is independent of the government.
She pointed out the OIC also needed four extra full-time staff if the office was to meet demands of providing advice on integrity and ethics to mayors and councillors.
"There remains some concern that the needs of mayors and councillors may not be fully met,'' she wrote.
She said since the 2015 review of her office, there has been a "significant increase" in requests for advice.
"Further, the public service has matured overall and there are alternative avenues in place for some categories of designated persons to seek advice and assistance to resolve any ethics and integrity matters.
"Additionally, overall demand for the services and assistance of the Integrity Commissioner which fall under the proper functions of the Integrity Commissioner has at times reached unprecedented highs.
"The existing governance arrangements, resources, and staffing have limited the Commissioner's ability to adequately respond to demand and maintain an independent, confidential service,'' she said.
"The current governance arrangements have adversely impacted upon the Integrity Commissioner's independence and ability to discharge the purpose and functions of the Act.
"It is in the public interest for the question of governance to be addressed as expeditiously as possible."
The final report by Mr Yearbury was handed to the Premier last year and was tabled in parliament last October.
His report will now be considered by the Economics and Governance Committee.
A final date for the committee's response is yet to be announced.
