1 in 2 public servants have witnessed corruption, new data reveals

New research from Queensland’s anti-corruption watchdog has revealed that over half of public sector employees have witnessed corruption in the past five years – but the most alarming statistic is the very low number of investigations conducted.

The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has released the findings of its Corruption Perceptions Survey 2025, highlighting growing concerns about public sector integrity and the prevalence of corruption across the state.

Conducted between March and May this year, the survey included 5,957 state government employees, 928 local council workers, and 114 police staff.

The survey revealed that 31 per cent of public sector employees had witnessed corruption in the past five years, while a further 23 per cent were unsure but believed they may have – meaning that over half (55 per cent) of employees may have observed corruption within the state.

Of the nearly one in three (31 per cent) Queensland public servants who said they had directly witnessed corruption, more than half (55 per cent) admitted they did not report it to anyone.

The CCC survey found that the main reason so many public servants did not report corruption was fear of personal repercussions, with 52 per cent of respondents saying they expected negative consequences if they came forward.

One anonymous respondent described the risks: “You will be targeted by your peers, labelled as a ‘dobber’, outcast from the service. I know this because I witnessed this happen to a colleague in the past.”

Concerns about anonymity and trust in the CCC were also raised. One participant said, “I don’t have faith that the complaint would be investigated confidentially, fairly, or thoroughly,” while another noted the “historic failure of the CCC to protect whistleblowers”.

Scepticism about whether reporting would lead to meaningful outcomes was widespread, with only one in three respondents (33 per cent) believing that action would be taken.

Yet the most striking and concerning finding is the lack of follow-up on complaints.

The state’s CCC investigated fewer than 1 per cent of complaints referred to it and has charged only a single person with a corruption offence in the past year, Parliament was told this week.

According to documents tabled in Parliament, the state’s watchdog assessed 5,567 corruption matters in 2024–25.

Of these, only 33 cases were retained for further investigation, 3,700 were referred back to the very departments they concerned, and 1,834 were dismissed.

Among public servants who participated in the survey, there was near-universal agreement that corruption exists in Queensland, with nine in 10 (90 per cent) acknowledging its presence and, more significantly, two-thirds (65 per cent) agreeing that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.