The NT’s anti-corruption commissioner is hiring an “events coordinator” just three months after claiming his office’s failure to meet its KPIs and lack of public action on corruption was the result of budget cuts.

Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches advertised the role on LinkedIn last week, indicating the new party planning job would entail coordinating a national anti-corruption conference that is scheduled to be held in Darwin 18 months from now.

“The Office of the ICAC is hiring an events coordinator to develop and coordinate the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference (APSACC) in Darwin in July 2024,” the ad stated.

“If you have the skills to manage budgets, promotion, venues, speakers and sponsorship while working with local and national stakeholders – apply now!”

It was unclear where Mr Riches found the money to employ a party planner in his budget and why the position was needed.

In October, Mr Riches claimed that a budget reduction, estimated at $1.4 million less than the $7 million record spend the year before, had significantly impacted his ability to tackle misconduct in the NT public service.

“A reduction in resources will inevitably mean a reduction in my capacity to discharge statutory functions,” he wrote in his report.

However, the report showed his office had substantially failed to meet key performance indicators by massive margins and had received and closed 677 complaints of corruption last financial year, except for 56 which the report claimed were in various stages and with different agencies.

The ICAC had projected that more than 70 per cent of its “finalised reports” for the year would result in “significant outcomes”, but the actual number was a dismal 1.8 per cent, according to the report.

The KPI of “translating” investigations into “formal reports” was estimated at 90 per cent, but again, the investigations unit only managed 1.8 per cent, according to the annual report.

That is an estimated one assessed complaint that became a report and resulted in “significant outcomes” for the entire financial year, although those outcomes have never been publicly reported.

The annual report also showed a massive decline in the use of the OICAC’s powers, indicating investigations had slowed down considerably despite the office hiring more investigators over the last financial year.

The OICAC has also posted a couple of ads for investigators in recent months but it was unclear if those positions were replacements or new positions.

Mr Riches said in the annual report that he currently had 17 active investigations on foot which he said are “complex” and have “taken longer to complete than I would have hoped”. Those include four related to disclosure of investigation, two related to abuse of office, two related to improper use of public resources and another two related to improper procurement processes.

Mr Riches took over the ICAC role in early July 2021 and has yet to produce a public report into corruption in nearly 19 months, or 574 days.

The 2022 APSACC conference was held in Sydney last November and was billed as a “two-day conference of local and international leaders in corruption mitigation and exposure”.

“The conference will include plenary sessions, discussion panels and workshops, and will also provide opportunities for developing professional networks across areas of expertise and jurisdictions,” the group’s website said.

Mr Riches refused to respond to questions about the new event planner position yesterday, what benefit Territorians would receive from the conference and why creating the new role to organise the event was necessary given his budget constraints.