Evidence describing the City Renewal Authority contracting a security guard to assimilate into groups of "anti-social" people in Canberra's city is incorrect, the government agency has said.
Instead, the events company contracted by the authority to gather data on public drinking, fighting and harassment around Garema Place hired security guards to simply observe, the authority said.
In mid-May, a Legislative Assembly inquiry hearing heard a contractor for the City Renewal Authority hired a security guard to "roughen up" their clothes and assimilate into the "anti-social behavioural group" in the city.
The authority had contracted events company Dionysus to conduct an audit to understand how anti-social behaviour affected public events, and help manage risks for staff and people.
However, the City Renewal Authority has said it confirmed the audit involved "trained personnel in plain clothes conducting non-interventional" observations after consulting Dionysus staff who worked on the project.
"It did not involve engagement with, or 'assimilating' with, members of the public. A single auditor logged incidents over a 12-hour period (8am-8pm), roving between locations and following anti-social behaviour where possible," a spokesperson said.
"City Renewal has written to the Committee for the Legislative Assembly Inquiry into the Night-Time Economy to clarify the statements that were made in evidence concerning the place-based audit and to provide a copy of the audit report."
The authority ordered the place audit to identify safety, security and operational issues in the city.
"This was a planning tool to help inform how we program activity in the city and manage risks for staff and people attending events," a CRA spokesperson said about the project.
"Our city centre is a great destination to hold community events that support local businesses and bring people together. We also want to ensure these activities are safe, inclusive and well-managed, so everyone can participate in them with confidence.
"We do not have immediate plans to undertake another place audit of this type."
The contractor previously said the security guard on the project recorded six major incidents a day in the city.
The inquiry into Canberra's night-time economy also heard Canberra's nightlife was "worse now" than ever, with families preferring to stay in shopping centres than brave anti-social behaviour on the city's streets.
