Victoria's lobbying regime will be tightened after government staff exerted pressure on health bureaucrats to award a lucrative contract to a Labor-linked union.
The Victorian government on Tuesday responded to 17 recommendations made by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission after the release of its Operation Daintree in April.
Operation Daintree probed the awarding of a $1.2 million contract in the lead-up to the 2018 election to run a staff training program to tackle violence against health workers.
It substantiated a ministerial advisor working for then-health minister Jill Hennessy exerted pressure on health department staff to award the contract to a Health Workers Union entity in 2018.
An advisor to subsequent health minister Jenny Mikakos and another advisor to then-premier Daniel Andrews intruded on the department's management of the contract against the public interest, the watchdog found.
IBAC ruled the premier was ultimately responsible for the misconduct but did not detect corruption.
When the report was released in April, Mr Andrews branded the report "educational" and said the government would examine its recommendations.
Under new premier Jacinta Allan, the Victorian government has accepted nine of the 17 recommendations in full or in principle, increasing transparency and accountability of lobbying activities at state and council levels.
Codes of conduct and guidance for ministers, ministerial staff and the Victorian public service will be updated and legislation and training introduced to fulfill six of the recommendations.
Two more have been redirected to parliament and another two knocked back completely.
One of the rejected suggestions involved introducing legislation to empower parliamentary committees to compel ministerial staff to appear and answer questions.
Seven recommendations remain under review.
