The Authority oversaw a Police investigation into a complaint about an employee’s social media posts and her general integrity. Following a falling out between the employee and a former flatmate (the complainant), the employee posted abusive messages about the complainant which the complainant said caused her serious harm. She also said the employee accrued a $5,000 household phone bill and lied to her housemates, saying the calls related to Police work.
The investigation found some of the employee’s social media posts were abusive in nature but did not amount to a criminal offence under the Harmful Digital Communications Act. Police also found the employee misled her housemates about the phone bill.
Police investigated a further, unrelated complaint, where a member of the public saw the employee driving in the wrong direction on a one-way road. Police established she was also breaching the conditions of her learner’s licence because she was driving without supervision.
Police issued an infringement notice for the driving offences and commenced an employment investigation into all these matters. The employee resigned before that process was completed.
The Authority agrees with the findings of the investigation.
IPCA: 21-7605