Senior home affairs official abused public office to get her future brother-in-law a job, Nacc finds

Watchdog says woman’s conduct was serious because of her seniority, as well as concern over ‘nepotism, cronyism and undeclared conflicts’ in recruitment

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A senior home affairs department official has been found to have abused public office and misused internal information to get her future brother-in-law a job, including hiding their relationship and sharing job interview questions with her sister.

A damning National Anti-Corruption Commission report released on Monday found the woman, who was given the pseudonym Joanne Simeson, forged a signature and coached her sister on how to hide the family relationship, eliciting suspicions from colleagues involved in the recruitment process.