The review was prompted by allegations raised in the Newcastle Herald in 2018 by sacked former department senior managers, including former Maitland-based titles operations manager Rebecca Connor.

It was also prompted by the embarrassing case of Ridgelands Resources - the mining company that obtained an exploration licence for land at Wybong with a condition of consent to establish a $5 million community fund within the licence term. It didn't.

The community only found out about the fund because Ridgelands approached Muswellbrook Shire Council offering $500,000, the council obtained the exploration licence consent and found the undisclosed condition, and took the matter to court to get the whole $5 million.

The public found out after the Herald wrote about it.

The Herald also disclosed, after a protracted freedom of information battle with the department, how a Maitland-based department mid-level employee approved the $4.5 million reduction under a titles and approvals system lacking public transparency and accountability.

So it is with some concern the Herald notes some sections of the Integrity Adviser Review.

It talks about significant changes brought about by department mergers and restructures and the need for enhanced human resources. It talks about having a culture of transparency and the positive impact of a new "Cultural Roadmap" and the "journey" the department is embarking on.

It also talks about staff at the Maitland office speaking "openly about the dilemmas of balancing mining interests and yet living within a community where this is a key feature of their lives".

Another term for "dilemmas" might be that staff experience a conflict of interest, even if not in the strict sense required under the department's new conflict of interest reporting regime. Staff feel conflicted about managing a resource many people around them are employed in.

Liberally sprinkled throughout the review are references to the Maitland office, staff views about media coverage and reviews prompted by that coverage.

Staff felt "somewhat overwhelmed by continued scrutiny", that their "professional integrity had been impugned" by allegations raised by former senior staff and that "recent negative media reports" had "impacted" the "positive direction" in which the department had, reportedly, been heading.

The "dilemmas" experienced by Maitland staff are the very reason oversight, scrutiny, transparency and accountability need significant improvement.

Issue: 39,322.