2005 ASX Announcements

Date: 13 September 2005

Corruption and Crime Commission, WA selects Objective to assist information management

The Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, a newly formed public sector agency, has selected Objective Corporation (ASX:OCL) to provide an electronic document and records management system to be used enterprise-wide.

The Commission was established to investigate allegations of misconduct by Western Australian police officers and public officers including officers employed in Local Government. It also conducts education programs with State Government departments, Local Government and the community, to increase the awareness of misconduct and how to counter it.

The Commission handles high volumes of documents and records and will use Objective to manage a range of information such as interview transcripts, video and audio media, and exhibits tendered as evidence. It is vital that the Commission is able to trace, track, store and receive data in a timely manner.

Objective will replace existing legacy systems from other organisations delivering consistent electronic document and records management and facilitating effective information management across the Commission. It will be implemented throughout all directorates within the Commission from Corruption Prevention to Business Services and Operations.

Vanessa Grant, Director of Business Services, Corruption and Crime Commission said: “The solution needed to be easy to use in order to be readily accepted by our staff.

“A critical element of Objective’s solution is the availability of a comprehensive, easy to use search facility that allows the Commission’s information and records to be easily located and displayed at the desktop through a single access point,” she said.

Strategically, Objective will underpin effective information management and knowledge sharing, operating as the core information repository for the Commission.

Consistency in the management of records was critical to the Commission. Objective was a proven, single solution that enabled the agency to carry out crucial functions such as:

• Registering records, exhibits and information regardless of format.
• Providing management of records over their life-cycle.
• Restricting access to records, exhibits, information and documents containing material of a sensitive and confidential nature, including the ability to place a caveat on a particular record or file.
• Tracking the location of and use of physical records and exhibits through the use of a barcode facility and creating audit trails for the check-in, check-out, modification and viewing of records and information held electronically.

Objective’s stringent recordkeeping and audit trail functionality together with its high levels of security will assist the Commission achieve the level of accountability required in such an agency.

“Objective will be implemented as the foundation for all other corporate systems. Following the implementation of Objective, the Commission will roll-out its HR, Finance and Case Management systems, all of which will be drawing upon and contributing back to our central enterprise information repository.

“The chosen solution needed to be able to grow with the Commission and be flexible in order to comply with future regulatory and statutory requirements,” said Ms Grant.

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About the Commission

The Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia is a small, independent public sector agency that was established on 1 January 2004. Its jurisdiction covers the more than 130,000 Western Australian public officers in some 600 plus agencies that include State Government departments and boards, universities and Local Government.

The inaugural Commissioner is Kevin Hammond, a former Chief Judge of the District Court of Western Australia who served on the bench for more than 20 years.

The functions of the Corruption and Crime Commission include:

• To deal with allegations and initiate investigations into misconduct. The Commission can investigate allegations itself, refer them to another agency such as the police or Ombudsman for investigation or refer them to the agency that is the subject of the complaint for investigation. The Commission monitors and reviews all investigations it refers to other agencies.
• To reduce the incidence of misconduct in the public service. The Corruption and Crime Commission’s Corruption Prevention, Education and Research Directorate works with agencies to strengthen their corruption resistance and minimise the risk of misconduct.
• To combat and reduce the incidence of organised crime. While the Commission does not investigate organised crime itself, it can grant the Commissioner of Police exceptional powers not normally available to police to investigate organised crime. The use of these powers is authorised and monitored by the Corruption and Crime Commission.