Victoria's Ombudsman has been handed extra funding to investigate allegations Labor misused parliamentary allowances during the 2014 state election campaign.
The matter was referred to Ombudsman Deborah Glass by the Legislative Council after a parliamentary services report found the ALP's use of electorate office funds to pay 26 staff for two days a week of campaigning "would not pass the pub test" among voters.
The government fought the probe all the way to the High Court, which ruled the matter was within her jurisdiction.
"I have received separate funding for that investigation, which I consider to be in addition to the core work of my office," Ms Glass wrote in her office's annual report, published on Monday.
She wrote that the investigation continues "and I look forward to delivering a report to parliament as soon as possible".
The referral was the third by parliament to the Ombudsman in the office's 43-year history.
According to the report, the Ombudsman handled the highest number of complaints, investigations and inquiries in the 2016-17 financial year.
A record 40,642 people contacted the office during that period, up 1,172 on the previous year, and the office made more than 4600 formal inquiries, an increase of 54 per cent.
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