Nepotism, poorly-managed conflicts of interest and inadequate recruitment practices are leaving Victoria's public service at risk of corruption, a report has found.
The "recycling' of problematic employees with disciplinary or criminal histories is also a significant risk, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission said.
"Concerningly, it is not common for public sector agencies to share information about their employees, and there is no central register of Victorian public sector employees and their complaint and discipline histories," the IBAC report released on Tuesday said.
"As a result, problematic employees can move between agencies with little fear their history will follow them."
More than 297,000 people worked for the state government, and 43,000 for councils, as of June 2017.
IBAC looked at inadequate and inconsistent pre-employment screening practices - such as failing to make applicants provide information about their qualifications, conflicts of interest, and work, criminal and disciplinary histories.
It noted numerous cases of employers, including those in the private sector, not cross-checking falsified resumes, qualifications and work experience, with the lies uncovered only after a person was hired.
Nepotism, favouritism and poorly-managed conflicts of interest also left the public sector vulnerable, with the corruption watchdog saying "failure to comply with merit-based processes is not uncommon".
It called for the implementation of a framework for pre-emptive resignations, discipline and baseline screening practices to significantly reduce the risk of employing people likely to engage in corrupt practices.
"IBAC recognises that adopting these processes would place some additional burden on agencies," it said, adding a "one size fits all" approach would not work.
"However, the Victorian community and individual agencies would benefit because the risk of corruption and misconduct would be reduced."
