– This paper aims to focus on corruption and misconduct evidenced from local government investigation reports in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
– A corruption and misconduct taxonomy was developed and the audit committee’s role was empirically tested.
– The empirical findings exhibited low support for audit committees overseeing corruption and misconduct allegations. The respondents generally considered that the chief executive was the appropriate person to manage investigations.
– The findings from the local government investigations and the empirical research emphasises the significance of culture and ethical practices to mitigate against corruption and misconduct. A culture of zero tolerance of corruption and misconduct was one of the best ways of a council demonstrating its integrity.
– This paper offers a local government perspective on the behavioural factors which provide the organisational conditions for corruption and misconduct to become the norm.
