Australia’s highest court has found Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog did not give a public official reasonable opportunity to respond to a secret report.

The High Court of Australia partly upheld an appeal against the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission on Wednesday.

The appeal was brought by a senior public officer, who cannot be named, about whom IBAC made adverse findings following an investigation between 2019 and 2021.

IBAC investigated allegations of unauthorised access to, and disclosure of, internal email accounts of a public body, which can also not be named due to court gag orders.

The watchdog gave the official a redacted version of its draft special report, which contained adverse findings against both parties.

The official requested documents relied upon to support the adverse findings, and IBAC provided some of the documents, but not others.

IBAC refused to provide transcripts from other witness examinations, but gave the official transcripts from their own examination.

The watchdog is required to “first provide the person a reasonable opportunity to respond to the adverse material” if they intend to include comment or opinion adverse to them in a report, under the legislation.

The official and public body challenged IBAC in Victoria’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, but both tilts were unsuccessful.

All seven High Court justices ruled against IBAC and overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling, in a decision to partly uphold the appeal which was published on Wednesday morning.

The justices unanimously found IBAC must first provide that person a reasonable opportunity to respond to the “adverse material” and fairly set out each element of the response in its report.

However, the court also found IBAC’s undertaking not to transmit the draft report to parliament meant it complied with the legislation.

The appellants were not awarded any relief, but IBAC was ordered to pay for their High Court appeal costs.

– AAP