Anti-corruption commissioner Michael Riches has admitted he spent the first 12 months in the role navel-gazing, with crucial ICAC investigation KPIs failing to be met by substantial margins, according to the office’s annual report.

Mr Riches has yet to produce a public finding into corruption in the Northern Territory more than 15 months after taking the job.

“Much of my first 12 months has been focused inward, reviewing and resetting the approach to be taken to various functions,” Mr Riches wrote in his first full annual report to Parliament.

“Much work has been done developing new processes, improving internal and external collaboration, recruiting new directors, and attending to historical matters. I initiated a governance and reform project to ensure our own suite of policies and procedures were appropriate.”

The annual report shows the investigations unit at the OICAC failed to meet its key performance indicators by massive margins despite more investigators being hired over the year.

The ICAC had projected that more than 70 per cent of its “finalised reports” would result in “significant outcomes” for the last financial year, 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” in 2021-22; that the office describes as a criminal prosecution, a finding under the ICAC act which may lead to a formal report, or exoneration of the accused.

That single report, of 56 investigations being closed in the last year, was never publicly reported and its outcome unclear.

The annual report also shows that of the 677 allegations assessed by the OICAC in the 2021-22 financial year, 141 of those were referred back to departments for investigation.

Of those, 120 were closed, with two cases being handed back to the commissioner to investigate.

Of the remaining 533 complaints, all have been closed except for 56 in various stages and with different bodies.

Mr Riches wrote in the report when he assumed the role as commissioner in July 2021, he was concerned that the office was incidentally handling 56 different investigations that he said was “beyond the capacity of my resources”.

He either closed those investigations with no result, or referred them back to the relevant department for its own internal investigation.

He claimed he took carriage of 11 investigations last July and currently has 17 active investigations on foot, which he said are “complex” and have “taken longer to complete than I would have hoped”.

Of the 17 active investigations, four are related to disclosure of information, two related to abuse of office, two are related to improper use of public resources, and another two related to improper procurement processes.

However, the annual report shows the OICAC had greatly diminished the use of its own investigation powers over the last year, with powers such as issuing notices to produce items or evidence down from 120 instances in 2020-21 year to only 32 instances in 2021-22.

The ICAC did not ask anyone to produce financial records in 2021-22 and issued only eight non-disclosure notices, compared to 179 the year before. Notices issued to attend a private hearing also dropped from 51 to 19.

The figures show investigation activities are down substantially despite the office hiring more investigators over the most recent financial year.

Mr Riches blamed a reduction in his budget, high staff turnover and ongoing legal action for the failures to produce any public reports since taking office and the diminished output.

That budget reduction is an estimated $1.4 million less than the roughly $7 million the ICAC was provided the year before – an all-time high in funding.

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

“The office has experienced significant turnover in staff. That has, of course, had an impact upon both capacity and timeliness. Nevertheless, it has presented an opportunity to renew the office with enthusiastic, skilled and committed individuals.”

Mr Riches wrote that the largest success for the year in his office was corruption “prevention” and education activities within the public service, as well as reports being “acknowledged” and “assessed” within targeted timeframes, but actual numbers were not provided.

In July, Mr Riches reduced the output of the office by removing the largest report into corruption the office ever produced from its website in a deal to have ongoing legal action around the Darwin Turf Club’s $12 million grandstand discontinued.