IBAC operative sacked after high-speed road rage pursuit

The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of the termination of an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission employee after being involved in a reckless roadway chase.

A veteran surveillance operative with Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) has lost his unfair dismissal appeal after the Fair Work Commission found he drove recklessly in an “impulsive, if not angry” road pursuit during a covert operation – and then lied about it.

Brent Murphy, who had spent 14 years as a surveillance operative for Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, was sacked at the start of the year after an investigation found he drove recklessly during an operation in May of last year.

What began as a minor car park incident escalated into what a colleague described as “dangerous and reckless” driving – a chain of events that ultimately cost him his career.

The incident occurred on the evening of 8 May 2024, while Murphy and several colleagues were conducting a covert operation targeting a person of interest. During the operation, a colleague – identified as Operative 25 – radioed the team to report that a Mercedes had reversed into her parked covert vehicle.

While multiple witnesses said she sounded calm, Murphy claimed he heard her say she had been “hit hard” and parked his car about 10 metres away to keep watch.

Moments later, as Operative 25 went to retrieve her driver’s licence, the Mercedes driver abruptly drove off without exchanging details, prompting Murphy to switch on his headlights, note the number plate, and give chase.

The pursuit saw Murphy follow the Mercedes for about 250 metres before making an illegal right-hand turn across a median strip into a dark suburban street to stay on the driver’s tail.

Other operatives recalled Murphy radioing that he had “gone hard” or was “on him pretty hard” during the pursuit. Operative 65, his team leader, also testified that Murphy was tailing the Mercedes by just one car length, travelling at an estimated 70 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.

While Murphy denied speeding or pursuing the car, deputy president Ian Masson concluded his actions were “impulsive, if not motivated by anger” towards the driver, noting that the surveillance operative had described the Mercedes driver as a “crook” and a “shitbag”.

Furthermore, Masson criticised Murphy’s refusal to acknowledge the inherent danger of his manoeuvre, stating he showed “an impressive lack of insight” by insisting that an illegal right-hand turn in a dark street was not unsafe.

A week after the incident, Murphy lodged a bullying complaint against Operative 65 in an email to HR, accusing him of inappropriate behaviour related to his duties.

The commission found Murphy’s account to be “a patently false and misleading narrative” intended to present a favourable version of events — and that it reflected an “utter inconsistency” with IBAC’s integrity standards.

Following an independent investigation, IBAC informed Murphy that his conduct breached the Road Safety Rules, the Victorian Public Service Code of Conduct, and the agency’s Surveillance Operations Policy.

In the letter, IBAC proposed terminating his employment, concluding that he was “unable to exercise sound judgement and decision making”, and expressed concern over his making “a false statement in official correspondence”.

While acknowledging Murphy’s long service, strong reputation among colleagues, and previously clean disciplinary record, Masson ruled that these factors were outweighed by the seriousness of his dismissal, which was based on both his “driving conduct and his honesty”.