Almost 355,000 people are employed in the Victorian state public sector – around 10 per cent of the entire Victorian workforce. More than 31,000 others are members of Victorian public sector boards. These people include health, education, transport, corrections, emergency and land management workers.

While these people engage in a wide range of jobs in varied circumstances, there is a consistent set of expectations about their behaviour. The Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) states that state public officials must act in a manner that is consistent with the public sector values of responsiveness, integrity, impartiality, accountability, respect and leadership.

While each of the investigation case studies in this report is taken from the Victorian 'public sector' (as defined in the Public Administration Act), the lessons drawn from them can be applied to most public organisations. This includes local councils and a range of private bodies exercising public functions or receiving public funding. Throughout this report, the term 'public organisations' is used to refer to this broader category of organisations.

The types of conduct discussed in this report can overlap, but they are often tied to a lack of transparency. All public organisations need to open themselves to scrutiny so the public can be assured they are acting in the public interest and money is being wisely spent. Behaviours which fail to do this can erode public trust.