A Victorian watchdog has split a parliamentary referral to investigate Labor's "red shirts" affair and the alleged politicisation of the public service.
The Victorian parliament in February passed a motion in the upper house calling on Ombudsman Deborah Glass to re-investigate the so-called red shirts scandal.
Labor has repaid $388,000 misused to pay political campaign staff during the 2014 state election following a previous investigation into the rort.
The motion, brought on by former Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek, also called for Ms Glass to probe allegations "ALP activists are 'stacked' into the public service", hence "compromising objectivity and professionalism and increasing the risk of corruption".
In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Glass said she would deal with the referral by separating the red shirts scheme and public service allegations into two parts.
The public service probe will be led by former Commonwealth Ombudsman and Australian Information Commissioner John McMillan.
"He has never worked in Victoria and brings an open mind to the issues under investigation," Ms Glass said.
She has released an issues paper setting out the scope of the investigation and called on anyone who has experienced the impacts of politicisation in Victoria's public service to make a submission.
Submissions will be open until July 15.
