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IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich has defended the agency’s handling of witnesses.Credit:AAP

The Victorian opposition,former Labor minister Adem Somyurek and other commentators have questioned IBAC’s independence over its decision to interview Andrews in private hearings as part of Operations Watts and Sandon.

“There’s a profound misunderstanding within the public domain,” Redlich told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

“We are treated as though we are a royal commission,so that once a subject matter of an investigation has been identified,the assumption is that any public hearing will involve calling all of the relevant evidence that relates to that subject matter.”

IBAC tends to hold public hearings only if it has strong evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

Under its act,when questioning witnesses in public,the commission must be satisfied there are reasonable grounds to conclude the witness has acted corruptly,or that it is in the public interest to examine the witness publicly and that no unreasonable damage will be done to their reputation.

Last month The Age revealedAndrews had been secretly grilled by IBAC as part of Operation Watts investigating Labor MPs’ misuse of public resources.The Australian last week revealed Andrews was questioned privately as part of Operation Sandon,which is investigating alleged corrupt land deals in Casey.

Last week,Shadow treasurer David Davis accused IBAC of giving “special treatment” to the premier,saying questions needed to be asked over why Andrews was interviewed privately.

Opposition MP Brad Rowswell asked Redlich on Monday whether any witnesses were examined in private following a request from their lawyer.

Redlich said he knew what matters Rowswell was referring to,and added:“There was no such request made.”

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is investigating integrity agencies’ handling of witness welfare following thedeath of former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon,who took her own life just days after she received IBAC’s draft Operation Sandon report into her involvement with allegedly corrupt land developer John Woodman.

Her friends have blamed IBAC for her death,saying warnings that several witnesses were a suicide risk were ignored by the anti-corruption commission and Victorian Inspectorate,which oversees IBAC.

Redlich defended the commission’s handling of witness welfare,saying the organisation had never ignored information about witnesses being a suicide risk.

He was unable to go into specific details and investigations because of restrictions within the act,but told the inquiry he was “anxious to address any residual concerns that exist in relation to that matter”,in reference to Operation Sandon.

“I do not have an example of where matters came to the attention of the commission which ought to have led to a particular witness being treated in a more sympathetic and compassionate way,” Redlich said.

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