The CCC is engaging with Queensland councils at the annual Local Government Association of Queensland’s conference on the Gold Coast, alongside other government agencies such as the Office of the Independent Assessor and Office of the Information Commissioner.
Good governance and a pro-integrity culture strengthens trust and transparency and supports the delivery of better services and outcomes for our communities.
The CCC is committed to supporting Queensland’s 77 councils to detect, prevent and respond to corruption in their agencies.
Bruce Barbour, Chairperson, says, “Councils deliver a broad range of services and are experiencing increasing demand from population growth and infrastructure development, along with skill shortages and challenges attracting and retaining staff.
This can create opportunity for corruption to occur, especially within activities like information management, procurement, payroll, and recruitment, which feature prevalently in corruption complaints made to the CCC over the past 10 years.”
In the 2024–25 financial year, complaints involving local governments increased by eight per cent when compared to 2023–24 (up from 396 complaints to 428 complaints).
There are several factors that are likely driving these trends — including growth in the Queensland population, increasing demand on council services, and increasing interactions between councils and the community.
In a recent CCC survey of 973 council employees, 55% indicated they have either witnessed or think they have witnessed corruption in the past 5 years, and 48% of those did not report it*.
Being present at events like this allows the CCC to engage in person with councillors, chief executives and other senior managers to support awareness raising and education in line with our corruption prevention role, and to collaborate with other government and integrity agencies in our shared efforts in supporting the sector.
Building awareness about corruption and how to prevent it are key to strengthening councils’ ability to address it.
*See the Queensland local council employees report from the CCC’s Corruption Perceptions Survey 2025.
The CCC is an independent agency combating major crime and reducing corruption for the benefit of the Queensland community.
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