ACTPS confirms ex-staffer no longer employed after corruption finding

A former top ministerial staffer who was found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct is no longer employed by the ACT public service.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

or signup to continue reading

Joshua Ceramidas, pictured in 2013. Picture by Melissa Adams

Joshua Ceramidas was found by the ACT Integrity Commission to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct by dishonestly providing a backdoor to prioritise the interests of a major union in the tender process for a public primary school upgrade six years ago.

The acting head of the ACT public service, Russ Campbell, on Wednesday confirmed Mr Ceramidas was no longer a territory employee.

"It is not appropriate to comment further because of pending legal proceedings relating to his employment," Mr Campbell said in a statement.

"The territory is not funding any legal costs for Mr Ceramidas' challenge to the Integrity Commission's report."

Court listings also show Mr Ceramidas, who was chief of staff to then deputy chief minister Yvette Berry, has launched action against the Integrity Commission in the Federal Court, with the matter listed for mention last week.

Mr Campbell said responsibility for employment matters sat with the head of service and authorised public-service decision makers.

"These responsibilities must be exercised in accordance with established employment procedures, including procedural fairness, and other relevant legal obligations," he said.

Attorney-General Tara Cheyne was on Tuesday asked by the opposition whether she had received a request to be a respondent in the court case; she said she needed to seek legal advice before responding in parliament.

"I'll seek advice ... but I think it would set an extraordinary precedent for any person in this place to be commenting on an individual's employment arrangements," Ms Cheyne said in Legislative Assembly question time on Tuesday.

The government's formal response to the corruption report, released on Tuesday, said the ACT public service had moved quickly to respond the serious issues raised.

"Preliminary Assessments have been taken in accordance with the Public Sector Management Act 1994, Public Sector Management Standards 2016 and relevant Enterprise Agreements. As a result of these assessments several actions have been taken, as well as referrals to the Public Sector Standards Commissioner for further investigation," the response said.

"Processes are also underway to address issues raised in the report in relation to ministerial staff."

The commission released its long-awaited Operation Kingfisher report in July, having also found the former head of the Education Directorate, Katy Haire, had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

"Not only was the process itself improperly skewed, resulting in manifest unfairness and also, as it happened, substantially increased cost, but both Ms Haire and Mr Ceramidas undertook a calculated attempt to cover up the truth of what occurred," the report said.

"Accordingly, the corrupt conduct of each amounted to serious corrupt conduct."

Ms Haire resigned from her post as the director-general of the Education Directorate in 2024.

While the corruption watchdog cannot rule whether corruption amounts to a criminal offence, Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams KC's report noted Mr Ceramidas' actions could constitute the offences of abusing public office and conspiracy to defraud.

The findings prompted Yvette Berry, whom Mr Ceramidas worked for from 2016 before joining the ACT public service, to resign from cabinet. No findings were made against Ms Berry.

In July, an ACT public service spokesperson said Mr Ceramidas was an employee of the territory's public service.

More from Public Service